If you were to ask me to name a comfort food, the first thing I would say? Pot Pie. After pot pie? Probably grilled cheese. Or french toast. Or waffles. But back to the pot pie. It’s always hot, always creamy, always filling, and comes in a buttery, flaky, crispy bread shell. You can’t go wrong with all of that.
I can remember a period of time in high school when I thought it was acceptable to eat frozen chicken pot pie 5 times a week. That was when I was also wearing a lot of black eyeliner and listening to some less-than-awesome music. That was also a time when food didn’t affect whether I fit into my skinny jeans. Things change.
The downfall of pot pie, as with most comfort foods, is that it is heavy on the calories and light on the nutritional value. I set out to remedy that problem with my own version of pot pie. No butter, no dairy, no white flour. Just quality veggies, creamy sauce, golden gluten free crust, and delicious herb flavors. This pot pie comes in at 178 calories per serving. Marie Callender’s pot pie? 380 per 1 cup.
Rather than complicating things with a rolled-out bottom crust, we kept it simple. Filling first, top with crust mixture and throw it into the oven. No flour mess. No sticky rolling pin. No pre-baking the crust. Simplicity is key.
We decided against chicken for this recipe, but it would be easy enough to add in. Probably one medium breast would suffice.
Before I end this post, I feel this needs to be mentioned: We took a couple of pieces to our neighbors and they were already eaten by the time we left.
- 1 sweet onion [diced]
- 1 carrot [chopped]
- 1 c. peas
- 1 c. cauliflower
- 2 c. kale
- 1/2 c. sweet corn
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil [for sautéing]
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 c. gluten free flour
- 3/4 c. coconut milk
- 3/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 head of cauliflower [about 2 cups, roughly chopped]
- 2 cups water [for boiling]
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp. fresh or dried rosemary [optional]
- 1. In a cast iron skillet on medium heat, sauté onion, carrot, cauliflower, corn, and peas until fork tender. Then add 2 cups of kale and sauté until wilted. 10-15 minutes total.
- 2. Preheat oven to 375° and make cauliflower sauce while you wait. [Instructions below]
- 3. Spray a 9" pie pan with olive oil.
- 4. Add veggies to the pie pan and pour cauliflower sauce [1 1/2 to 2 cups] over top. Mix together until everything is well coated. Set aside for until crust is ready.
- 5. In a medium bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. Then add coconut milk and stir until combined. The mixture will not be doughy, it will be more like batter.
- 6. Pour crust mixture over pot pie filling and use a rubber spatula to smooth it out.
- 7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
- 1. Boil 1/4 of a head of cauliflower florets in 2 cups of water for 10-15 minutes and save the water.
- 2. Sauté 3 cloves of garlic in olive oil.
- 3. In a blender, add cauliflower, garlic with oil, 1/4 cup of water from boiled cauliflower, and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.