Essentially homemade chicken pot pie

Even though it's somehow basically summer again outside here in Atlanta, last week was absolutely frigid. so naturally I made my favorite cold-weather dinner: chicken pot pie.

I love this recipe because you can be as complicated or no-frills as you want to be with it. I think the most important part of a recipe is that it should be reasonably doable on an average night. So I took a potentially complicated, exhausting recipe and made it just that. Here's how:

• Homemade crust? Sure, if you're into that kinda thing. Me, I don't have any kinda time for that business. Who wants to spend 5 hours making a (extremely temperamental) pie crust before even starting to cook dinner? Not this moi.

• Another potential point of debate: the frozen veggies. Look. Look. Listen. Listen. Look. Come on, who really likes celery? I find no shame in grabbing the organic Publix-brand frozen mixed veggies that come in the exact amount that I need. aka more of what I want for less effort. I pick that.

• Optional white wine aka an excuse to buy a bottle of white wine. Even if you're not into wine, it really does enhance the flavors, so don't skip it unless you really have to.

• Final point of flexibility: the protein. If you've got a leftover chicken breast or two that you can cook and chop up: go for it. You can also buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery and pull the meat off--sometimes it's cheaper than buying raw chicken, plus it's already cooked! Have leftover chicken from a roast? Use that. Lots of room for flexibility here.

Special Thanksgiving hint: this recipe is AMAZING with leftover turkey. Do yourselves a favor and set aside 2 cups of turkey so you can make this--it's WAY better than turkey sandwiches, I promise.

Okay, enough defending my choices. Just try it and you'll see for yourself. My family requests this over and over again, and it might just be what snags me a husband one of these days. It's that good.

Laura's Chicken Pot Pie

1 pie crust (if you get the two-pack from the store, freeze one for next time!)
1/2 stick butter
2 cups frozen mixed veggies
2 cups chopped or shredded chicken (or turkey!)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
splash of white wine (optional) (not really)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
1/4 tsp thyme (or to taste. I use dried/ground because lazy)

Preheat oven to 400.

(Cook your chicken and shred it up if you haven't already.)

Melt butter in a large skillet. Toss in frozen veggies and, stirring, cook until heated through (a couple minutes). Add the chicken and stir, coating the chicken in the remaining butter. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir to coat. Cook over medium for a couple minutes (this helps the chicken and veggies stand up to the liquids).

Pour in broth, stirring constantly to deglaze (get the crispy stuff off the bottom) the pan. Let it return to a simmer and add a splash of white wine. Stir and let return to a simmer. Then add heavy cream.

Bring to a slow boil and let simmer for a few minutes until the mixture thickens a little to an almost gravy-like consistency. While simmering, add salt, pepper and thyme. I hardly ever measure these things (#YOLO) I just keep adding and tasting until I'm happy with it.

Pour the mixture into a casserole dish or pie dish (at least 9-in). Unroll the pie crust and carefully place over the mixture, and press the edges into the side of the dish (so the insides don't boil out). Slice vents in the top of the crust.

Bake 30-40 mins or until golden and bubbly. Allow to cool just slightly before serving (because the inside will be at molten lava temperatures).


Make it tonight!
    

    

Try this at home: Sun in My Belly's Hermes Salad

The best salad I've ever had was at Sun in My Belly, a lovely little restaurant in Decatur. I was taking advantage of a ScoutMob hand-picked deal for dinner for two (they've got one right now and it's almost gone! go get it!) and that included your choice of salad to start.

I chose the Hermes, and it changed my life forever. I would definitely not say that I'm a salad person, but I would eat this happily any/every day.

I decided it'd be really simple to recreate at home, so I decided to give it a go. Sure enough, totally doable and so delicious. I don't think they used gorgonzola as their bleu cheese, but that's what I had on hand from my baked sweet potato the night before.

Usually by the end of a salad I'm having to convince myself to keep eating it, but no so with this one. So even if you have a salad aversion, I dare you to give this one a try! The arugula is perfectly peppery and pairs beautiful with the bite of the bleu cheese and the sweetness of the roasted pears.

Arugula with bleu cheese, toasted walnuts, roasted pears and champagne vinaigrette

For the salad you'll need:
a plateful of arugula
a little bleu cheese (I used gorgonzola)
a handful of walnuts, lightly toasted (pop em in the oven for a couple minutes)
roasted pears, chopped (recipe below)
champagne vinaigrette (recipe below)

For the roasted pears:
2 pears, cored and halved
1 Tbs melted butter
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400. Cut each pear half into 4 lengthwise slices. Toss in the butter, sugar and lemon juice and spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast for 20-30 mins, stirring them around every 10 or so minutes. They'll be ready when they're golden brown and slightly soft.

For the champagne vinaigrette:
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper

Combine mustard and vinegar. Then, whisking the whole time, slowly drizzle in olive oil to emulsify (mix oil and vinegar). Season with salt and pepper!

Now, assemble away! To your plateful of arugula, crumble some bleu cheese, sprinkle on some toasted walnuts, top with the roasted pears, and finally drizzle on the vinaigrette!

Bon app!

     

Kale pesto pasta. Heavy cream optional (but not really).

A short while back, I shared a recipe for salmon and kale quinoa and we learned all about those three fantastic superfoods with some fun videos!

But I found myself with half a bag of kale left, that needed tending to before it wilted/rotted in my fridge. I can't believe how fast it goes bad once you open that bag. So, I'm here to share with you a super recipe for using up all that leftover kale!

I took a recipe I found here and I've tweaked it (aka added heavy cream) into the deliciousness I share with you today.

Okay, that's actually a pretty glorified way of putting it. What really happened was that I made the pesto, but didn't make enough pasta, so it was a thick pesto mess. A couple days later I made more pasta to thin out the pesto, and went crazy and added a cup-ish of heavy cream. Then I felt guilty, so I diced up a tomato and threw that in there too. Never apologize for anything that happens in the kitchen, Eaters.

[pre-heavy cream and tomato additions. bad pesto-to-pasta ratio.]

Pasta with kale pesto cream sauce. and tomatoes.

2 lbs of pasta (yes, I realize that's a lot. I was going off of my leftover kale situation! i used whole wheat spirals.)
1/2 lb of kale, chopped and destemmed and all that jazz
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup deshelled pistachios
juice from 1 lemon
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
pinch of red pepper flakes for a little heat
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
1 cup(ish) heavy cream
1 tomato, diced

Salt a pot of water and bring to boil. Add kale and blanch for 2-4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop it out and onto some paper towels. Let em cool a sec then use more paper towels to pat/squeeze dry. 

Toast the pistachios in a small saucepan/skillet situation over medium-low for a couple minutes, stirring to toast evenly.

Cook your pasta somewhere around here-ish.

Grab your food processor, and add the garlic and toasted pistachios. Pulse until coarse. Add the kale and lemon juice and pulse until mixture is nearly smooth (but still has that pesto-y bits to it). Scrape the sides and add the parmesan, red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Pulse again, and while the processor is running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.

At this point, you can put it in a tupperware with a little olive oil to save, or spoon it over your pasta and give it a good stir.

To make it a pesto cream sauce, heat 1 cup or so (depending on how liquid-y you want it) of heavy cream in a small sauce pan over medium. Bring almost to a boil, then pour over your pasta along with the pesto. Chop up a tomato and toss that in there too.

Happy eating!

   

Eat your veggies, kids!

[so many veggies. these, plus spinach, too!]

I've been eating pretty terribly lately. Lots of empty carbs and too much dairy and I was starting to feel it in my all-around well-being. Time to eat some veggies. Now, being an ESTJ, I'm a go big or go home kind of person, so I went all out. This recipe has sooooo many veggies in it. and lots of spices (which are good for your heart). So if you're feeling a little sluggish and gross from all that sugarrrrrr, make this tonight! Sidenote: it makes a TON, so it's perfect for a week (or month...) of leftovers!

Oh! and it's vegetarian AND vegan friendly!

Fun fact: Marrakesh is a major city in Morocco, so this is a Moroccan-style dish. Another fun fact: Morocco is at the top of my list of places to visit. It looks so beautiful!

 [Saute away, little babies.]

Marrakesh Vegetable Curry
originally found here

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 eggplant, cubed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
6 Tbs olive oil, divided (3 for the veggies, 3 for the spices)
3 cloves garlic, minced (get you that canned stuff, it is magical. no shame)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 Tbs curry powder (I used two)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 (15oz) can garbanzo beans, drained
1/4 cup blanched almonds
1 zucchini, sliced
2 Tbs raisins
1 cup orange juice (I used the Naked carrot orange, it's perfect)
10 oz spinach

In a large Dutch oven place sweet potato, eggplant, peppers, carrots, onion, and 3 tablespoons olive oil (don't accidentally add your zucchini yet, it will be mush!). Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes.

In a medium saucepan or skillet, place the other 3 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, turmeric, curry powder, cinnamon, salt and cayenne pepper. Saute over medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir often so it doesn't burn!

Pour the spice mixture into the Dutch oven with the veggies. Add the garbanzo beans, almonds, zucchini, raisins, and orange juice. Simmer 20 minutes, covered.

Add spinach to pot and cook for 5 more minutes. Serve over rice or couscous!