Vegetable Pot Pie For Thanksgiving (Gluten-Free & Vegan)

I've been creating quite a few special Thanksgiving recipes lately for my gluten-free and vegan community, and I must admit, it's been loads of fun. After all, recipes for the traditional Thanksgiving feast are everywhere, and creativity is usually directed to side dishes. A festive vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free meal is far more interesting and challenging.

This dish is just one of the many dishes I had a blast creating. It happened innocently one night when my daughter bought home a freshly prepared chicken pot pie from a local store well known for its prepared foods. She said it was still warm from the oven when she bought it, and we were both excited to dig in. Unfortunately, we were both disappointed when it consisted of mainly celery and carrots swimming in a thick gravy.

That's the back story that inspired this veggie packed, creamy, so-flavorful-I-couldn't-stop-eating-it pot pie.

Ingredients for crust:

Directions for filling:

Place a medium-size (10" or larger), deep sauté pan over medium heat. Add oil and heat until hot but not smoking.

Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook until they soften (about 5 minutes or so).

Add the potatoes, beans and cook for another 5 minutes or so until they begin to soften.

Add the asparagus and mushrooms and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until they too begin to soften, then add the peas, stir and cook for a minute or two more.

Add the flour and stir to make a paste. Reduce heat and cook for a minute or so.

Slowly add the broth, stirring consistently until you've added about 2.5 cups. It should look like a thick gravy at this point. Add the remaining broth a bit at a time until you reach your desired consistency. You may not need to use all of the remaining last cup

Add the cashew cream. Stir, add the nutritional yeast and cook for a few minutes just to incorporate.

Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and fill the pots or pot.

Directions for the crust:

Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Add the semi-firm oil and 2 tablespoons of the water and mix.

Add more water, a drop at a time and mix with your hands until the dough comes together.

Knead a few times and set aside in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap. Let it rest.

After about 20 minutes, place on a lightly floured board, knead a few times and divide into 4 equal pieces (or as many piece as you need).

Roll as thin as you can get it without it falling apart. If it cracks. that's normal. Just patch it back together.