RECIPE: Easy Chicken Pot Pie

My mother-in-law was telling me she had made the best chicken pot pie recipe earlier this week. I told her I actually had one planned to make this week and would love the recipe. Of course, I had to tweak it because of my picky eaters. I saw a few weeks ago how Ina Garten had made a beautiful Lobster Pot Pie and she used fennel. I have never used fennel before and always wanted to try it. So while I was at Publix this week, I purchased one. I snuck it in (if "snuck" is not in your vocabulary it's the Southern term for sneaked). This is what I did:


Easy Chicken Pot Pie

• 1 store bought pie crust
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 fennel bulb, cored & fonds removed, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 1 celery stalk, finely diced
• 3 red potatoes, cubed
• salt (your preference here)
  
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 can vegetable stock (because I had it on hand, but you can totally use chicken stock)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions:
Let pie crust sit at room temperature while making filling. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In large dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add fennel, carrots, celery, potatoes & salt. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. After vegetables have softened slightly, sprinkle them with flour, stirring to combine; let cook 1 minute. Pour in vegetable stock and using a wooden spoon, scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add cream of chicken soup and combine well. Add chicken & parsley. Stir to combine. Pour chicken mixture into a 13 x 9 baking dish. Unroll pie crust onto floured surface. With rolling pin, roll out crust into a rectangle shape, large enough to cover your baking dish. Roll the crust over the rolling pin and place over the chicken mixture. Crimp the edges all around the dish. Brush the top of the crust with the beaten egg. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

I loved this combo of veggies! I told the guys half-way through dinner that it had the fennel in it and they said it was really good! This one is yummy-licious!

I don't know if anyone else has a problem with peas, but my husband doesn't touch them! So I always buy frozen peas and microwave them for the rest of us. Oftentimes, I use frozen peas to cool off a dish for the kids. It's a great way to include a serving of veggies in their diet. I add frozen peas to macaroni & cheese, chicken fried rice and soups. Tonight I added it to their chicken pot pie. I make up their plates and sprinkle their serving with the frozen peas. Haylei loves to stir them in. And sometimes she even begs for more if her serving is still too hot.

Another option is frozen blueberries. If your baby is teething, give them a few frozen blueberries (of course, if your baby is too small, you will want to keep an eye on them so they don't choke). I stir frozen blueberries into oatmeal to cool it off too. Again, it's a great way to get your kids to eat their fruit.

Hope this helps!

Enjoy!