What’s for Dinner?
Last Friday we had this fabulous comfort food for dinner. The kids loved LOVED it! Minus Joshua of course who is scared of green foods. He asked if next time we make it we could leave out the veggies and only put in mushrooms. Which might actually be pretty good. . .except Kaleb is scared of mushrooms. But I digress; this recipe worked superbly! The filling set up fabulously and the flavor was great. Kaleb and Charleigh went back for seconds and thirds and even the critic, Joshua, ate all his. You’ve got to try it.

In an effort to trick the 5yr old into eating his veggies I let him use a star cookie cutter to dress up the crust. I also gave him a fork and let him pinch the edges together. We called it “Rock Star Chicken Pie”.

Dairy Free Chicken Pot Pie

1 package (10 oz) frozen mixed veggies
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup fresh spinach thinly sliced
2 garlic finely minced
1/3 cup chopped onion
½ cup flour
1 can chicken broth
2/3 cup soy milk
1/4 tsp Ground Pepper
½ tsp Salt
2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 cups diced cooked Chicken
Prepared Pastry for 9-inch two crust pie

Heat oven to 425
Thaw veggies and drain.
In a heavy bottomed sauce pan bring olive oil to medium heat then, sauté onion, garlic and spinach till tender.
Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute.
Slowly pour in chicken broth and soy milk whisking the whole time.
Bring to boil. (continue whisking)
Cook for 2 minutes or until thick (still whisking)
Mix in veggies and chicken; remove from heat.

Roll 2/3 pastry into 13 inch square.
Gently press into ungreased 9×9x2 inch square pan.
Fill pastry-lined pan with chicken mixture
Roll out remaining pastry into 11 inch square.
Cut out a few designs with a mini cookie cutter.
Arrange the cut outs on top of pastry.
Top chicken mixture with pastry and flute edges.

Optional: brush with an egg wash for a shiny golden finish

Bake 35 minutes or until golden brown

The last piece standing. Joshua might have been right, I may have put to many veggies in. They are colorful though.

Personalize It
You can leave the spinach out if you choose. Lately I’ve been adding it in to almost everything. Once sautéed with garlic and onions it can easily be sneaked into almost any dish with out a single kid noticing.

Choose your family’s favorite veggies. We had a mixture of carrots, peas, corn and green beans

No time to make a crust?
A pre-made Pillsbury crust straight from the store works great. Simply line the square pan and cut off the over hang. Use the extra dough to fill in most the gaps in the corners. Before filling the pan with the chicken lay the second piece of pastry over the top and trim off some of that excess. Remove the top and use those trimmings to finish covering the sides of the pan. Fill the pan with the mixture then cover again and flute the edges.

If you’re making this recipe because of milk allergies or sensitivities make sure to double check the ingredients of the store-bought crust for allergens.

UN-adapt it?
If you’re not dairy conscious simply replace the soy milk with regular cow’s milk. If you’re not cholesterol consciouses I guess you could replace the olive oil for butter. Though you really shouldn’t. . .

Dairy Free, Milk Alergy, Recipes