Vegan Pot Pie

Pot pie...just the thought of one makes my mouth water.  But don't worry then my next thought is ouch my arteries clogging and developing atherosclerosis from all the bad fat found in a traditional pot pie.  So I knew there was a way to make a vegan version or almost vegan version depending on how you make the crust...Here is what I found and came up with and it rocks!!  The only problem with it was that the crust took WAAAYYYY too long to make, or maybe it just seemed like that because sweet Carson couldn't think of spending a few minutes without his mom's attention while she prepared dinner...bummer.  Anyways, we survived that melt down, we always do :) and we enjoyed a delicious dinner as payoff.  But next time I'll just buy a pre-made organic whole wheat pie crust from the health food store to save on time.  This recipe makes 2 pot pies so you can freeze one and use at a later date :)  If you don't want to make two cut the measurements for this recipe in half.

Vegan Pot Pie

Crust

4 pre-made organic whole wheat pie crusts
or
homemade pie crust. I found the recipe for the pie crust I made here.  I used an olive oil and butter combination (far less butter than olive oil) so it wasn't strictly vegan.  I'm sure you could use a vegan butter in place of the regular butter if you didn't wan't to use all olive oil either. 

Filling

2 16 oz bags ogranic frozen peas and carrots
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup cold water
4 tablespoons corn starch
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
4-5 cups vegetable broth

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large stock pot heat oil over medium heat.  Once oil is heated through add onion and saute until soft and translucent.  Add garlic and cook for a minute longer.  Add potatoes and frozen vegetables and add enough vegetable stock so vegetables are barely covered (so this may end up being a little less or more than 4-5 cups) bring to boil and then return to a simmer and simmer until potatoes are tender.  Mix cornstarch into the cold water and whisk until there are no lumps.  Slowly add cornstarch mixture to the filling and stir at a simmer until has thickened.  Add basil, oregano, salt and pepper, and adjust spices if needed.  Distribute filling between two pie crusts.  Place the top pie crust over the filling and seal the edges.  Cut a few slits in the top and bake for 30-40 minutes or until crust is golden and appears flaky (mine probably took about 45 minutes but my oven is crappy so I would start checking it at 30 minutes if you have a normal oven :) ).  And then for the frozen pie you should let it sit out for a half our to an hour before you begin cooking it and then you will need to bake it for about an hour but start checking it at 50 minutes.  Enjoy!