In honor of Pi day yesterday, we ate all things pie. We started with one of my old childhood favorites, Impossible Pie. While a fun way to start the day, this recipe will require some more tweaking to convert it successfully into our grain-free, starch-free lifestyle. I will be sure to share if we have a success.
We decided that dinner should be chicken pot pie, though I had no idea how we would accomplish this to fit within our dietary needs. After checking out a few Paleo recipes, I took inspiration from a few and guessed a bit as to how we could make it without starch. Our results were lovely and enjoyed by the entire family! I used veggies that I had on hand and was a little afraid that the Swiss chard might be too strong, but it was a wonderful addition.
Starch Free Chicken Pot Pie
Filling:
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 1.5 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cups chopped Swiss chard, stems included
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp. dried thyme
- 3 tbsp. coconut oil
- 3 cups broth
- 2 tbsp. coconut flour
- salt and pepper to taste
Crust:
- 1 cup almond flour
- 4 egg whites
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2-1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
Instructions:
Saute all veggies in coconut oil, minus chard leaves. If using chard stems (which I highly recommend) add stems with other veggies. Saute until soft, 10-15 minutes. Add chard leaves and garlic, saute for additional 5 minutes, covered but stirring often to keep garlic from burning. Add thyme, salt and pepper. Stir and add broth, leaving about 1/2 cup to mix with coconut flour. Simmer until broth is hot. Mix remaining broth and coconut flour well and slowly add to pan, stirring after every addition. Simmer until broth reduces, was still a bit runny.
Pastry Topping:
While broth is simmering, mix up the topping. In a bowl, mix coconut oil, almond flour, soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites and vinegar. Whisk egg whites mix into flour mix.
Transfer filling to oven safe pan, or use oven safe pan to saute in like I did. Spoon topping gently on top in small batches and then spread to cover the top.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until topping is golden brown.
Notes:
- Be sure to save the extremely nutritious egg yolks for use in another recipe.
- If starches are safe, using arrowroot or some other form of starch would help the filling be a little thicker/creamier. The coconut flour worked and the taste was great, but there are some things that starch free cooking just can't recreate to perfection.
- We served with green beans sauteed in bacon fat. Add in a few cloves of minced garlic in the last few minutes of cooking for a delicious touch. Sprinkle with a bit of sea salt and enjoy!
Looks delish! Thanks for sharing...will certainly be trying this soon!
Posted by: Tricia | 03/15/2012 at 09:48 AM