Sunday, November 6, 2011

Lazy Veggie Pot Pie!

I've been cooking a bunch since the weather began getting chillier, so HOPEFULLY I can get back into the blogging game :-) Here's one of my favorite "comfort" foods of all time...

This recipe was inspired by this pile of produce I got from the Utah CoOp - for some reason I looked at it all and thought, "Pot Pie!" BUT, I'm too lazy and/or afraid of making pie crusts. And really, soggy pie crust is NASTY, so we wouldn't want to contend with that either. Then I remembered a long-ago Bisquick box recipe for "easy" pot pies, and ta-da! A new vegan classic was born!

Here's the CoOp share and the prepped veggies (I think I made about 4 times this recipe!)
 


Liz’ Lazy Veggie Pot Pie
1 large yellow onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 bell pepper, diced
6-8 cups of any assortment of the following veggies (really, probably anything you have):
red potatoes, peeled and diced
carrots, peeled and sliced
cauliflower, separated into bite-sized chunks
broccoli, separated into bite-sized chunks
sweet potato, peeled and diced
spinach, chopped
zucchini, diced
mushrooms, quartered
green beans, cut into 1” lengths
frozen peas
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 “un-chicken” bouillon cubes or 3 tablespoons Frontier ‘chicken-flavored’ vegetarian broth powder
Water
1 16-oz. package of seitan or other “Chicken” substitute
Salt 
Pepper
Garlic powder
Basil, Thyme, or Parsley
Place oil, garlic, onion and salt in soup pot. Cook over medium heat until onions are translucent and soft. Add bell pepper and assorted veggies. Stir for a minute to slightly warm all the veggies. Sprinkle flour all over everything and stir-fry for three minutes. Add nutritional yeast and broth powder. Mix well, then add water to just below level of veggies. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until veggies are barely tender (but not mushy!). It should resemble a thick stew. If it doesn’t, whisk more flour in a bit of water and add to pot. Add seitan, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and herbs to taste.
While veggies are simmering, make “crust” from your favorite biscuit recipe -OR- simply use refrigerated biscuit dough. (Also, you can make this recipe GLUTEN-FREE by substituting cornstarch in the stew and using a gluten-free biscuit mix for the crust!)
Here’s the recipe I used, based on a scone recipe:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup Earth Balance
1/2 cup plain soymilk
1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Whisk flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut in margarine until crumbly _OR_ use a food processor to do that for you. Whisk vinegar into soymilk, make a well, and mix into dry ingredients just until everything is moist - do not overmix! It should be quite crumbly! 
Ladle stew into casserole dishes or ramekins or pie tins or whatever. Put a thin layer of dough on top. (This is a good time to wrap and freeze if desired). Cook in a 375° oven until the filling is bubbling up the sides and the top of the crust is golden, about 25 minutes depending on the size of your “pies.” ENJOY!