Lightened Chicken Pot Pie

Who loves a chicken potpie more than me? Maybe Marie Callender, but who wants all those excess calories, fat and unwanted preservatives when you can prepare a fresh and light chicken potpie (crust and all!) using common ingredients. Enjoy a slice of hot and bubbly chicken potpie right out of the pan, or make individualized pies using ramekins.

Ingredients

For the pastry crust

• 3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (30 grams) whole-wheat or all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
• 3 tablespoons cold water

For the filling

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium (110 grams) onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 small stalks celery (80 grams total), chopped
• 3 small carrots (100 grams total), chopped
• 1 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (250 grams) low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup (245 grams) 1% milk
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken breast from prepared rotisserie chicken

Directions

Prepare pastry crust ahead of time: In a large bowl, combine flours and salt; cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly. Add water; stir until dough comes together. (You can also combine flours in a food processor. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add water, and pulse until dough comes together.) Form dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap, and chill at least 1 hour or until ready to prepare pie.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove pastry crust from refrigerator, and let soften slightly while preparing filling.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, celery, carrots and green beans, then cook 3 minutes or until tender.

Sprinkle flour over vegetables and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add broth, milk, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, stirring until well blended. Cook 5 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken, green beans, salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into a 9-inch pie dish.

Roll pastry between two sheets of plastic wrap into a 9 1/2-inch circle. Lay crust on top of chicken mixture. Fold excess crust along edges, pressing down with a fork on edges to seal. Cut vents in top of crust.

Place pie on a baking sheet, and put in oven; bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Information

Serves: 6 |  Serving Size: 1/6 of pie

Per serving: Calories: 343; Total Fat: 13g; Saturated Fat: 6g; Monounsaturated Fat: 4g; Cholesterol: 82mg; Sodium: 467mg; Carbohydrate: 29g; Dietary Fiber: 4g; Sugar: 6g; Protein: 27g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 540mg; Iron: 9%; Vitamin A: 69%; Vitamin C: 18%; Calcium: 10%

As always, love much, laugh often, eat delicious, nutritious and filling food and look fabulous while doing it all! ;) Love, Blair