Stir-Crazy Pot Pie

I hear that lots of people like chicken pot pie.  I might too, except for the fact that I haven't had meat in about 11 years so I honestly couldn't tell you my personal feelings about it.  But I discovered this recipe several years ago and while I'm sure it's nothing like actual chicken pot pie, it is rather remarkably good.

 There's something about the mixing of flavors that just works kind of perfectly.  My dad will compliment everything I cook no matter what it tastes like, but I believe him when he says this is one of the better dishes I make.  Also it's pretty easy to make and it's great if you're poor because the ingredients aren't too pricey or difficult to find.  If all that doesn't convince you, then I might also add that it's pretty darn healthy too.

The ingredients are such:
Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter
1 1/2 Tbsp milk
pinch of cayenne pepper

Filling:
1 small or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
1 large carrot chopped
1/2 pepper chopped (any color will do, though red does add a nice dash of color)
1 small white potato chopped 
1 small sweet potato chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup lentils
1-2 cups vegetable stock, preferably warmed to boiling
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
2-4 Tbsp flour
1/3-1/2 cup milk

Directions:
Crust:

Last time I made a pie I had some leftover dough from the crust which I froze, so I got to skip this part and therefore have no pictures.  But it's fairly simple.  Mix the flour, salt, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl.  Then cut in the cold butter and use a fork to mix it in until you have a nice crumbly consistency.  Then slowly mix in the milk (well, recipes always say to slowly mix things in, but I'm not very good at slowly doing anything except for math.   So mix it at whatever pace you feel like.  Take that recipe world!).  Once you have a smooth but not too sticky dough you can press it into a ball and place it in the refrigerator for an hour or the freezer for 20 minutes.  You can always add more flour if the dough is too sticky or more milk if it's too dry.  Try not to knead it too much with your hands because the heat from your body will soften the butter and you'll lose that nice flaky consistency you want in the dough.


Filling:
The chopping of everything is really what takes so long.  Once you have everything all nice and chopped like so

 you'll be good to go.  Heat up some olive oil in a big frying pan until it sizzles when you drop a piece of onion into the pan.  Then saute the onion until translucent (about 5 minutes).  Next add in the celery, carrots, and peppers and saute for another 10 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften just a bit.

Now add everything else (the frozen peas, lentils, potatoes, and stock) and bring to a boil.  Timing in this recipe really varies because it all depends on the size of the vegetables you got.  Your potatoes and peppers might have been huge so you might need more cooking time and more stock.  You kind of have to guess at what looks right, but that's part of the fun of cooking.  I usually aim to have the vegetables sitting in a nice amount of liquid but not to the point where they're completely covered in stock.  Once the mixture is boiling you can turn it down to a simmer and cover.  Let it cook for as long as it takes for the lentils and potatoes to get soft.  This should be about 15-20 minutes. 

At this point you can preheat the oven to 400 degrees (if you do it before this point you're just wasting energy, though you know how much I love to start off by preheating the oven).  When the potatoes are soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed, add in the spices, flour and milk stirring until the sauce begins to thicken.  Now you can pour the mixture into a baking dish.  Roll out the cooled dough until it's big enough to cover the top of the baking dish and then drape it over the cooked vegetable mixture.  If you want to get really creative you can even cut pictures into the dough or make it festive with a dash of paprika on top.  Then put the dish on a cookie tray (just in case anything boils over you don't want it to spill on the bottom of your oven) and bake for about 20 minutes or until the dough is nice and golden.

Now you have an amazingly delicious vegetarian treat.  Go spread the word, the vegetable, and your happiness.