D.F.D.F. {Dairy-Free Delicious Food} : Chicken Pot Pie

Welcome to the first installment of DFDF!! Dairy Free Delicious Food! Although all my food is dairy-free, I came up with this cool new acronym. I can’t really decide if it’s actually cool, or 5th grade cool. Maybe I secretly know the answer to that…:)

Anyway, today’s tasty recipe is down-home chicken pot pie! Here’s how I make it. Of course if you’re not omitting dairy, tweak the recipe accordingly (as us dairy-free cooks have to do with all those other recipes!)

Ingredients:

•  5-6 small potatoes (cut into dice-sized pieces)
• 4 carrots, chopped
• one onion, chopped
• couple stalks of celery, chopped
• some broccoli (I was in a healthy mood), chopped
• butter/butter substitute
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (not shown)
• olive oil
• sea salt
• pre-made pie crust (Pillsbury is dairy-free.)
• bay leaf
• 2 cups cooked chopped chicken (not shown)
• TB of flour (not shown)

I know, I know… my ingredient lists are starting to look like a fraternity’s yearbook photo with all these “not showns.” I’ll work on it.

Instructions:

So what I do first is wash, chop, and saute all the vegetables in olive oil. Make sure the potatoes are diced in small pieces, so they are thoroughly cooked. I like to get really nice color on them, but not let them be too mushy, as they will cook in the oven as well. (Maybe saute for 10-15 minutes?) Again, test the potatoes and make sure they are slightly soft.

Now you need to get that creamy, pot-pie feeling for the inside. What I do is clear a hole in the pot, melt the butter (TB or so), and then add the flour. I mix up the melted butter and flour so it’s not clumpy.

Just imagine all that blurriness is steam. I’m pretty sure it is, but it might be butter on the lens. Who knows. Now we need to add the liquid – chicken broth and milk. Then you just let it simmer for a bit.

You may need to add a little more liquid. Keep in mind that it will thicken in the oven, so make sure it’s not too dry before you bake it. Then pour it in a pan. Since you apparently have way too much time on your hands and need a 3rd child around, make a cool criss-cross crust. I think it’s actually called “lattice pie crust.”

Hey, stop laughing at my lattices.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges.

Let cool for a really long time before you serve to little ones. They don’t forgive you if they burn their tongues. Enjoy! D.F.D.F., right!

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