Food Friday: Cook the meal (Skinny Chicken Pot Pie) and win the cookbook!
The other day I worked an especially long day, and came home exceptionally hungry and tired. And guess what was waiting for this lucky girl?
Chicken Pot Pie, fresh out of the own, made by my husband that evening.
All thoughts of disciplined eating went completely out of my head as I dove in to the golden brown crust and the fragrant, tasty filling. About halfway through, I noticed the sauce wasn’t a puddle of cream, but instead was a light and savory sauce bathing the meat and copious amounts of vegetables. I didn’t think too much of it, and kept eating.
After dinner I discovered that I didn’t need to worry about disciplined eating, because I had just enjoyed a fantastic dinner out of the brand new EatingWell cookbook, Comfort Food Made Healthy (The CountryMan Press, 2009. $24.95) that I had left lying out on the kitchen table.
Let me tell you, we LOVE this cookbook. German Apple Pancake, Hot Artichoke Dip, Fresh Corn Chowder, Cobb Salad, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Tuscan Pork Loin, Chicken Piccata, Old-Fashioned Chicken & Dumplings, Oven Fries, Onion Rings, Deep Dish Apple Pie, French Silk Pie, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, need I go on? All of these classics are given the EatingWell treatment, which is to say fats, sugars and other unwanted calories are reduced, not completely eliminated, so that you are still eating real whole and healthy foods, rather than scads of unnatural fat free and sugar free replacements.
There is also a great guide to steaming vegetables so they are crisp and appealing, plus a host of light yet interesting dips and sauces to partner with them and a great resource guide with tips for substitutions if you don’t, for example, have any fresh buttermilk on hand.
Want to win this cookbook? The fine folks at The CountryMan Press will be sending a copy to a lucky Hank & Willie reader. All you have to do is leave a comment below—I’ll have randomizer pick a number and will let you know the lucky winner next Friday!
Eating Well’s Chicken Pot Pie
(You won’t know it is a light version of CPP. I didn’t! And I don’t have a photo because? I just DUG IN. The photo is on page 4 of the book.)
Filling:
3 teaspooons canola oil, DIVIDED
1 cup frozen pearl onions, thawed (did not use–used a real onion)
1 cup peeled and chopped carrots
10 ounces cremini mushrooms (used white button mushrooms)
2 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, DIVIDED
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups cooked and diced chicken or turkey meat
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
Biscuit topping
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (used spelt instead, either would be good)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup nonfat buttermillk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1. To prepare the filling, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots, cook, stirring til golden brown and tender, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in the pan, add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until browned and their liquid has evaporated, about 5-7 minutes. Return the onions and carrots to the pan. Add two cups of broth and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Mix cornstarch with remaining broth (1/2 cup) and add to pan. Cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens. Stir in chicken, peas, sour cream, salt and pepper. Transfer the filling to a 2-quart baking dish.
2. To prepare the biscuit topping, preheat the over to 400 F. Whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and thyme in a large bowl. Using fingertips or two knives, cut butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. Add buttermilk and oil; stir til just combined. Drop the dough onto the filing in six even portions. Set the baking dish on a baking sheet.
Bake the pot pie until the topping is golden and the filling is bubbling, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 6 servings, 403 calories each. Also has 12 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber and 29 grams of protein per serving.
So there you have it. We can have our comfort food and eat it, too. Good luck —hope you win this great book!
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Anna Sawin is a Connecticut-based portrait, wedding, and editorial photographer. She lives in the shoreline town of Stonington with her family and has discovered the perfect cupcake. Just ask, she is willing to share her secret.
Sounds good to me. I want to try it!! I’ll pass the info along to hubby (and maybe even pass him the new cookbook when I win…hehehehe).
Oh my gosh I would LOVE this! It would help me with both my goals – simplify my life and lose some weight!
Oooh, that sounds right up my alley!
This recipe sounds amazing – I loooove pot pie but never get to have it since that dang husband of mine doesn’t like anything “white and creamy.” But with only 1/4 s cream in this, he can’t complain about that! I’m totally going to try it.
And if the rest of the book is like this recipe? Yes please!
Must have Anna! I love their magazine and would prmoise to place this cookbook in a highlighted spot in my home.
Sounds yummy!
Can you raffle off your chef instead? Mine seems to think if he is on the same floor as the kitchen, he “cooked dinner”
HONESTLY, just said to Bob three days ago, after eating a chicken pot pie from W.B. (local bakery that you know, Anna), I am going to find a good recipe for chicken pot pie, because these store bought versions are horrible. Have never tried a store/bakery bought CPP I liked, and have never made one…..but yet, I want to make everything else from scratch….So why wouldn’t I make this myself?
So dear Randomizer, wherever you are, PICK ME, PICK ME!
Mmmm that sounds so good and I’m always looking for a way to make comfort food healthier!
Sounds yummy! And what a nice hubs you have… Okay, now let’s see if I’ll have a chance to find some more recipes in my brand spankin new cookbook!
This sounds very yummy, and I love trying new recipes. I don’t know if I’m more impressed with the recipe or the fact that your husband made dinner!
Sound great! CPP is an old favorite of mine, but it causes so much GUILT! Now, it seems , it no longer has to.
Now then, does Brian hire out….?
Those recipes sound great! And now I am definitely in the mood for chicken pot pie. I might have to try this out this week. It’s just been too cold lately.
Yummy! Randomize me, please!
Could you send hubby over to cook for us, too?? That is an amazing way to end the day. I can’t wait to try the recipe and would love the cookbook!
I love Eating Well! Sounds delicious!
This does sound geat! I am teaching small children about cooking in the kitchen. We try to make healthy simple food and this will work for us. Thank you!
I need all the cooking help I can get. Pick me!
Love your blog and eatingwell magazine too.
and i always love to get new cookbooks too.
pick me, pick me!!
Being that I love chicken pie I will try this recipe as I could always use another excuse to eat it!
Yum….and I think I know what we are having for dinner tonight!
That cookbook looks amazing.
That cookbook sounds fabulous! If I don’t win it, I may have to go out and buy it. 🙂
Oh, and I’m totally jealous that your hubby cooked something that required more than turning on the oven and putting the rock hard frozen food in it. Seriously. Jealous.
Wow – how fabulous of a husband do you have for making such a scrumptious meal! I adore Chicken Pot Pie and I would love to win the cookbook! Pretty please!
Yumm! I love it! I might have to make it next weekend!!
he cooks!!! maybe if i win the cookbook, mine will too?
sound like the perfect snow day meal.
i love the magazine.
the fact that the book is so husband-friendly is a double healthy treat!
It’s a cold day here and I am at a loss for ideas about what to cook tonight. I thought I would swing by Hank & Willie and see what you have been up to in this area and looky there, the perfect solution. Sounds wonderful. Tell Brian that dinner is at 7 and I’ll leave $$$ on the counter so he can go to the market! Just kidding, but what a sweet hubby you have. Thanks Anna.
ok, I’m gearing up to make the chicken morrocan slow cooker recipe, and I’ll let ya kno whow it ruens out. I’m trying this chicken pot pie next!!! Come on cook book winner, I can feel it in my bones!!!
Sounds yummy. The perfect comfort food…does it come with a cook as well?
Healthy food that is also yummy…amazing! The list of recipes you gave makes my mouth water! I’ll have to hint to my husband that he needs to make some yummy food out of this cookbook! 🙂
Sounds like a great recipe – I’ll have to try it! And thanks for the chance to win the book! 🙂
I’d love to win — looks like a great cookbook!!
Just FINALLY catching up on my Google Reader…this recipe looks great, and I just happen to have leftover turkey in the freezer!