Vegetarian Pot Pie

This is a perfect dish for the vegetarians (and everyone else) in your life! 

A perfect addition to any holiday meal. 

I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian (I eat eggs and dairy, but no meat or meat products, including meat broths and meat oils) since 1990. My children have been raised on a vegetarian diet, but have been free to choose for themselves. At this point, my 18 and 19 year olds eat anything but my 14 year old is still a vegetarian.

As a vegetarian, I struggled with a "main dish" for holiday meals. We generally celebrate with others, so there is usually the traditional holiday fare: turkey or ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, some sort of yam/sweet potato dish, a vegetable dish, a salad, rolls, ... I make sure that we have stuffing and gravy made without traditional broth. So we used to just eat the side dishes. But at one pot-luck Thanksgiving, someone brought a pot-pie that was absolutely delicious! So I worked on making my own... 

Ingredients in THIS pot pie: 

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 russett potatoes, diced

1 sweet potato, diced

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

4 spears celery, chopped

1 pear, chopped

2 handfuls kale, sliced

1 cup water

1 vegetable bouillon cube

1 can cream of broccoli soup 

Directions:

1. Make crust. Use your favorite crust recipe (if you are making this for vegetarians, make sure your recipe does not include lard!) or mine: http://mamasnotperfect.blogspot.com/2013/12/pie-crust.html

I make this in a large dish, so when I make this crust, I divide it into two, and use one full plus half the other for the bottom. Then I make another batch and use one and a half for the top. I use the other half for a pumpkin pie or something else. (My crust never works out if I double the recipe, so I always make it in two separate batches.)

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet (I use a large deep dish iron skillet) over medium-high heat. When oil is warmed, add potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions. Saute over medium-high heat until potatoes start to soften.

2. Add salt, pepper, bell peppers, carrots, and celery. Continue sauteing over medium-high heat for about five minutes. Heat 1 cup of water with the bouillon cube in microwave for about one minute, enough to dissolve bouillon. Add the water/bouillon to the vegetables and continue to saute. Cook until the vegetables are soft (but not mushy!).

3. Add pear and kale. Stir to combine, cook for about 2 minutes. Add the can of cream soup. Mix.

4. Oil the dish, put in the bottom crust, then pour everything from the skillet into dish. Then add crust on top. Poke a few holes in the top, then bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees (F) for 50 minutes.

This is always DELICIOUS! Everyone raves about it, vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

Notes: I never make this the same. I always use sweet potatoes or yams, just because they are so yummy. I use whatever potatoes I have on hand: russets, new potatoes, red potatoes, whatever. I've made it with yellow or red onions. Leeks work too. I use any color bell pepper or the little sweet peppers. I nearly always put carrots and celery in it, unless I run out when making stuffing. Sometimes I use apples instead of pears. Fruit seems odd, but it adds something so yummy! And I throw in spinach or kale, depending on what I have. I have also added frozen peas (at the end, when I add the pears and kale) or corn or green beans (fresh-add with the carrots, frozen or canned, add with the pears). You can use canned vegetable broth instead of water and bouillon. If you are serving this to vegetarians, just be sure it is VEGETABLE broth and not chicken or beef broth. I don't add tofu, as I have to be careful about ingesting too much estrogen, but if you want to add tofu, saute it first and add with the pears. I haven't tried adding beans, but that would be another easy way to add protein. Add canned beans in step 3, with the pears. I'm thinking kidney beans would be best.