Back in the 1970s, my extra-thrifty mum used to keep her freezer full of store-brand chicken pot pies. Those little suckers were exactly forty-seven cents each, and my hillbilly tastebuds loved them almost as much as my beloved Cheez Whiz! Alas, I haven’t had one now in close to thirty years, so when James mentioned practicing his vegan pie crust, I decided to give some vegan chick’n pot pies a go!

Vegan Chick’n Pot Pie

First off, you’ll need to make a batch of this pie crust, but veganize it by replacing the butter with Earth Balance vegan butter (or another similar brand of vegan butter). Then roll out and cut the pastry and press it into six 5-inch pie plates. Parbake the bottom crusts (covered with parchment paper and pie weights) for thirty minutes at 350 degrees. The recipe for the filling is enough for twelve little pies, so it’s a good idea to double this recipe. Alternatively, you could freeze the rest of the filling or eat it over rice or mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

1 pound grilled chickwheat

1 portobello mushroom, chopped

1 chopped onion

2 tsp chopped garlic

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white wine

5 1/2 cups vegetable broth

3 heaping TBS no-chick’n broth powder

2 heaping TBS nutritional yeast

2 TBS miso

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

1 chopped carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1.5 cups diced potatoes

2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups cauliflower florets

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Saute the chickwheat and portobello mushrooms for a few minutes and set aside.
2. Spray a pan and saute onions and garlic for a few minutes;
3. Add flour and white wine and whisk…then gradually add the broth. Keep whisking until it’s all smooth and bubbly.
4. Add the no-chick’n broth powder, nutritional yeast, miso, and spices.
5. Add carrots, potatoes, and celery and let simmer until the carrots and potatoes are al dente.
6. Add broccoli, cauliflower, sauteed chickwheat and mushrooms, and simmer until everything is tender, but not mushy.
7. Add pepper and salt to taste.

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Once the crusts are parbaked, fill each little crust with the filling, cover with the top crust:

Slide back into the oven at 350 degrees for thirty minutes:

And here’s a delicious pie served up with a salad:

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The pies were absolutely scrumptious!! Much better than the forty-seven-cent store-brand pies of my childhood. I will most definitely be making these succulent pot pies again soon!

We finished the Howards End miniseries last night, and though we loved the first three episodes, we were disappointed in the concluding episode. This evening, we’re watching the 1992 movie version because the conclusion is so much more satisfying.

And the song of the day is Ray Lamontagne’s “Such a Simple Thing.”