My refrigerator is one of the most random places. You never know what you’ll find in there (5 kinds of mustard, Asian sauces galore?! why yes, don’t mind if I do!) and on any given day, there’s a collection of vegetables. I love my fresh veggies from the CSA, but I can’t always use them all at once. This pot pie is a great way to use up vegetables you might have in the fridge/freezer. It is also my answer to the canned cream-of-yuck soup style of pot pie. If you do your chopping ahead of time, the time and effort to put this together really is minimal.   Waiting for the pot pie to come of the oven, however,  is not so easy!

Homestyle Chicken Pot Pie

Yield: 6 servings

3 cups chicken broth
1 pound potatoes, diced (white, red, whatever your heart desires!)
1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) sliced carrot
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup frozen green peas
1 cup frozen corn
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
1 refrigerated pie crust
1 Tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 400°.

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add potatoes and carrots; cook 2 minutes. Drain mixture in a strainer over a bowl, reserving cooking liquid.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft and fragrant (about 3-4 minutes). Spoon 1/2 cup flour into a measuring cup. Combine flour and 1/2 cup chicken broth, stirring with a whisk. Add to the onions in the skillet. Whisk in the reserved chicken broth until smoothed out. Stir in potato mixture, chicken, peas, corn, salt, thyme, and pepper. Cook 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Spoon chicken mixture into a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish (I used an 8×8 glass pan) coated with cooking spray. Place dough on top of chicken mixture, pressing to edge of dish. Don’t worry, it really doesn’t have to be pretty!! Cut 5 slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape. Gently brush crust with milk.

Bake at 400° for 30-40 minutes or until golden. Let stand 10 minutes. This will be the longest 10 minutes of your life because it will look and smell GLORIOUS and you will want to dive right in!!