It All Feels Worth It, or Veggie Pot Pie

Jul 22

In this season, dancing in my kitchen mostly looks like watching my steps (to avoid little fingers), managing grab-y hands, soothing between stirs, and holding my curious Callie as she takes in the sounds, smells, and sights. It’s sometimes a battle to convince myself to get in there to make one more meal, but once we hit our flow it all feels worth it. And important. By and large, cooking dinner with Callie on a blanket nearby, wooden spoon in hand, has become a regular anchor of our day. I hope it's laying the ground work for Callie's enjoyment of creating and exploring food.

A quick and easy dinner I make every couple of weeks is Vegetable Pot Pie. It comes together quickly if you keep a bag of mixed veggies in your freezer, and then add any vegetables in your fridge that need to be used up to the pot. In this way, the variety of possibilities is endless, and, if you purchase produce that's in season where you live, you can have seasonal versions of your pie. Recently, I made a summer-inspired version, with patty-pan squash, zucchini, and a lone red potato that had crept to the back of the crisper. (Yes, I added one lonely potato and called it good.) There's plenty of creative potential with this dish, which makes me feel good about repeatedly bringing it to the table.

Vegetable Pot Pie

1 onion
2 patty pan squash
1 potato
1-2 cups frozen mixed veggies (I add veggies to the pan until it looks amply full)
1 quart vegetable broth
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1.5 tsp onion powder
Several shakes of dried sage
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 cup raw cashews
3/4-1 cup water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Sauté the onion for 5-7 minutes before adding the spices, vegetables, and veggie broth. Bring the pan to a gentle simmer and let it bubble away while you prepare the cashew cream and biscuit batter for topping. (See below for biscuit instructions.)

Next, blend cashews and nutritional yeast with 3/4-1 cup of water to make a cashew cream. The less water you use, the more thick your cashew cream will be. Add this to the pan of vegetables and stir.

Once the biscuit batter is ready, drop in spoonfuls on the top of the vegetable mixture. Bake in a 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for 14-15 minutes.

Gluten-free Biscuits

This recipe comes from Jamie's step-mom Andrea. Actually, many of the recipes I make in this season are inspired from Andrea's guidance. She has taught me a lot about simple, yet wonderfully fun and flavorful cooking in this distractible, sometimes sleepy season of new motherhood, which has been a giant blessing as we've sheltered at home for much of 2020. Andrea's meal ideas and ability to make the table a daily place of enjoyment and celebration has been a much needed source of inspiration and joy during this point in our lives. I could expound on the meaningfulness (and blessing) of this, but, for now, the biscuits!

A quick note: For this recipe, you will not need to form your dough for cutting biscuits. You can simply drop the dough onto the top of your dish and pop it in the oven.

2 cups GF All-purpose flour -- we use Bob's Red Mill
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup apple sauce
3/4 cup - 1 cup of milk

The first and most important rule I learned from Andrea about making these biscuits is that you do not want to pack the flour tightly. You want to scoop the flour out, then run a knife over the top of your measuring cup to scrape off any heaping excess. If you pack the flour, your biscuits will not be light and fluffy.

Add the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Mix in the apple sauce with a fork. The mixture will resemble small peas, but not all of flour will incorporate. Another game-changing tip Andrea taught me is to make a thicker milk mixture by watering down yogurt for your liquid. Mix 1/2 cup yogurt and 1 cup of water then stir to combine. (You can also just use almond milk, coconut milk, etc.) Start by adding 3/4 cup to your flour mixture and stir to incorporate. If all of the flour doesn't mix, keep adding the liquid until it does. Your dough will be soft and you don't want to overwork it.

Check out her post on instagram to read more about making actual biscuits!

Take care, friends!