Vegetarian Chicken Pot Pie

I wanted a warm and comforting pot pie recipe for winter, with no meat, so I found a recipe to use as a framework and adapted it for my needs.

I doubled the recipe and added a few ingredients. This makes 7 or 8 hearty portions, plus a lunch for my husband to take to work in his mini-crockpot.

• Cutting board
• Sharp knife
• Measuring cups
• Stirring spoons
• 9" x 13" baking dish
• Large non-stick skillet
• Whisk that is safe to use in your non-stick skillet
• Ladle
• Medium bowl for making biscuit dough

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 chopped yellow onion
• 2 large cloves garlic (minced)
• 4 cups vegetable broth (made w/ Penzey's vegetable soup base or your favorite)
• 16 ounces frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, green beans, carrots)
• 5 large mushrooms, chopped
• 4 - 5 small cooked potatoes, - I prefer Russets, chopped or sliced
• 1 package Quorn Meatless Pieces (faux chicken)
• ½ cup unsweetened plain almond milk
• ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 pinch each sea salt and black pepper
• 1 batch biscuits made w/ self-rising flour, and done drop style, or your favorite biscuit recipe

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 C).
• Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat.
• Add onion and garlic and a pinch of salt – stir. Cook until soft – about 5 minutes.
• Add the flour and stir, (it will be very pasty) then slowly whisk in the broth.
• Add almond milk and bay leaves and stir.
• Simmer until the mixture is thickened (about 10 minutes). It will appear very thin and watery at first but be patient and let it simmer, stirring occasionally.

• 2 ½ cups self-rising flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 stick Earth Balance vegan spread (must use sticks and not the stuff in the tub)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• Place flour and sugar in medium bowl, stir to combine.
• Cut the stick of Earth Balance into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices and using your fingers, work them into the flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Just pinch and work the flour and "butter" together until you have a crumbly mixture.
• Add milk; stir with fork until soft dough forms and mixture begins to pull away from sides of bowl.
• Set aside, finish the rest of the pot pie instructions and then pinch off pieces of dough to cover the top of the pot pie before baking.

• Put the pre-cooked, sliced potatoes and the mushrooms in the bottom of your 9" x13" baking pan.
• Once the sauce is thickened, add the frozen vegetables and Quorn "chicken" bits and cook for 4-5 more minutes.
• Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt and pepper if needed.
• Discard the bay leaves and pour the mixture into the baking dish. I find the mixture to be too heavy to just lift and pour so I use a ladle and put most of it into the pan that way.
• Top with drop biscuits (I just pinch off pieces of dough and arrange them to cover the filling.
• Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted vegan butter. (Which I forgot to do this time and they were FINE)
• Set your baking dish on a baking sheet to catch overflow (I have not had any problems w/ overflow yet) and bake until the biscuits are golden brown and the filling is bubbly (about 14-17 minutes).
• Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

• If you'd rather not use the Quorn Meatless Pieces product (which is not vegan), you could easily just substitute another bag of frozen vegetables, or more potatoes or mushrooms. I'm going to try homemade Seitan next.
• I find the Earth Balance sticks to be the best vegan "butter" product for baking. YMMV
• The original recipe came from The Minimalist Baker/1 hour vegan pot pies