Vegetable Pot Pie with Dill-Mustard Sauce

It's been hard to keep up with the vegan meals this month without resorting to fake meat - which is fine, but I know not everyone is interested in that. But, I've been tight on time and just haven't had the energy to use too many new ingredients or make stuff from scratch. Trying to eat just a few vegan meals has seemed so difficult to plan. Coming from a background of meat-starch-veg meals, I used to think vegetarian took a lot of thought and energy to make it interesting, but now it seems easy as pie compared to vegan!

Speaking of pie....

Last night I outdid myself with a home-made vegan vegetable pot pie. I have made some good vegetarian pot pies at home, like a butternut squash pie, using shortcuts like canned soups - but for a vegan pie I made the sauce from scratch using soy milk. I was worried that the sauce was not going to thicken, since it was still a little thin when I poured it into the shell, but it came out perfectly - not too liquid-y and not too dry.

Most of the ingredients I used are things I tend to keep in stock all the time. The box of unsweetened soy milk and yeast flakes are a new addition due to Vegan MoFo. The yeast flakes add a nice, almost chicken-like, flavor to sauces and soy milk is much healthier than regular anyways. I'll quickly admit I am no baker and have tried many times to make pie crust and failed. So the pie crust I made from a Pillsbury box-mix (just add water), but the refrigerated version would have been less work. I suppose you could make the crust from scratch as well, if you're handy with those types of things.

Just the 2 of us ate half this pie in one sitting.

 You could use really any vegetables you like in this pie, or even add tofu or soybeans. I used sweet potato for a more flavorful (and vitamin-rich) starch, and mushrooms for protein. The idea of dill popped into my head as I reached for the thyme in the spice basket and remembered that my husband has developed an aversion to it lately. He hates rosemary outright, but I have noticed he doesn't touch the leftovers if I've used thyme. He says he likes it but I don't think he does. So I tossed some dried dill in the sauce instead, hoping for a bright fresh flavor. It really worked with the mustard and the vegetables.

Vegetable Pot Pie with Dill-Mustard Sauce

Filling:

2 C Sweet Potato cut into 1" chunks (about 1 Medium potato)

3/4 C Carrot, sliced (about 4 small carrots)

1/4 C Celery, sliced (about 1 large rib)

1/2 C Shallots, sliced (about 2 large shallots)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 C sliced Mushrooms (canned or fresh)

1 C peas (fresh or frozen)

3/4 C corn (fresh or frozen)

2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 T Flour

Sauce:

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 C "No-Chicken" broth (or vegetable stock)

1 tsp Arrowroot powder

1 tsp Mustard powder (use dijon mustard if powder is not available)

2 tsp Nutritional Yeast Flakes 

1 C Unsweetened Soy Milk

1 tsp Dried Dill

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

2 pie crusts & a pie plate

Heat oven to 425F.

1. Bring potatoes and water to a boil and cook about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Add 2T oil to a skillet over medium heat and add the carrot, celery, shallots and garlic. Cook and stir about 6 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook another 4-5 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and set aside.

3. Microwave the peas and corn in water for about 1-2 minutes to heat through. Drain.

4. Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and toss together.

5. In a small saucepan over low-medium heat, add 1 T oil and stock. Bring to a simmer and add arrowroot, mustard and yeast flakes - whisk to combine. Add soy milk, dill, salt and pepper and simmer until reduced, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.You should end up with about 1-1/2C of liquid.

6. Prepare the pie crust if needed, and lay one into a 9" pie plate. Pour the vegetables into the crust, being sure to evenly distribute the peas and corn (they tend to want to hang out in the bottom of the bowl and fall in one spot). Sprinkle 1-2 Tbsp of flour over the vegetables.

7. Transfer the sauce to a measuring cup (or ladle) and pour around over the top of the pie filling. Gently shake the plate side to side to distribute the sauce - it should come about 1/4" below the edges of your crust or pie plate edge. 

8. Apply the top pie crust and seal the edges by pinching together. Poke holes for ventilation.

9. Cover the edge of the crust with a ring of tinfoil and bake at 425F for 40-45 minutes. Place a sheet pan or tinfoil on the bottom rack of the oven to catch overflow. Remove the tinfoil for the last 15-20 minutes. Pie is done when the top is golden brown and the insides are just starting to bubble up through the holes.

10. Cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.