Vegan Veggie Pot Pie

I don't know about you, but I have a weakness for bakeware. It's kind of a problem because everywhere I shop I see dishes I want and imagine things I can make in them. I'm pretty good at resisting the siren call, especially for things that only make one dish or take up a lot of room. However, the other week I found myself with a gift card at a discount home store and found this pretty pie dish that called out to be set on the counter with delicious smelling steam rising from it. So I bought it. And a cookbook.
But I didn't get so many other things!



Even though it's mostly summer weather here now, we do have the occasional cool and cloudy day that makes me want something warm and comforting for dinner. This vegan pot pie fits the bill perfectly, and, most importantly, I could use my new dish. Using a pre-made pie crust made this recipe easy. Use this as a starting point, and then customize with vegetables you like, are in season, you have leftovers of, etc.


Comfort Food Vegan Pot Pie
1 9 inch pre-made vegan pie crust
2 large potatoes, preferably russet
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
3/4 Cup frozen green beans
8 garlic cloves, diced
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 C soy or rice milk
1/4 C Panko bread crumbs
1/4 C Italian bread crumbs
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
fresh herbs

Cook (boil or microwave) potatoes in their skins. When they are cool enough to handle, dice one and mash the other (I added some soy milk to help me mash mine)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pie crust in pie pan/dish

Heat some olive oil (a tablespoon or two) in a large skillet. Add the diced onion and a sprinkling of salt, and cook on medium-low until nearly translucent. Then add chopped carrot and garlic and cook until everything is golden.

Add the green beans and a little bit of water (a couple tablespoons) and cook for a couple of minutes. You want the beans to still be crisp.

Add the flour and milk, and stir constantly until the liquid thickens slightly. Add both potatoes and cook until everything is heated through. Add any fresh herbs, salt, and pepper at this point if you're using them. Pour everything into the pie crust.

In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs and about a tablespoon of olive oil. Spread the mixture evenly over the pie.

Bake for around 35 minutes, or until crust is golden. Once you take the pie out of the oven, let it sit for 10 minutes before you cut into wedges and serve.

Notes:
I was going to mix in some mashed chickpeas, but I forgot. But I think it would be a nice addition for protein purposes. I also forgot to add in my baby spinach. (BOTH were sitting on the counter in front of me. sigh)

Play with fresh herbs and whatever else you may have growing in your garden!

I also think this might work with sweet potatoes, or maybe one sweet potato and one regular potato.