Healthier Chicken Pot Pie

I have seen a million pot pie recipes floating around, but when I saw this one on the Thyme for Wine blog it really stuck out.  The idea of a healthier version was appealing, but I won't lie...the heart on top was another reason this particular recipe caught my eye!  I didn't pull these out of the oven until my husband was walking out the door for work, so I quickly threw it in a plastic bowl hoping he would eat it on his way.  I wasn't so sure that he was going to like it (or even try it!) after I accidentally mentioned it was healthy, but he called me from work later that night to tell me it really was pretty good - "it just needed more crust!"  The next night he asked for leftovers and this time I put extra crust on his.  That was definitely one of the nice parts about making these in separate ramekins, I could make mine healthier with one layer of crust and him happier with three layers of crust!

1 russett potato, cubed
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups chicken breast, cooked and cubed (I used my Baked Chicken recipe, thawed from the freezer)
¼ cup flour
1 ½ cups chicken broth
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup fat free half and half
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 egg white with 1 tsp water
1-2 store bought pie crusts

     Preheat the oven to 400º.  In a saucepan, bring water to a boil.  Add the potato pieces and boil for about 6 minutes.  Add the carrot pieces are boil for about 5 more minutes.  Make sure both the carrots and potatoes are tender before removing from water.  Use a slotted spoon to remove potatoes and carrots from boiling water and place in a strainer.  Add corn and peas to the boiling water and remove after about 2 minutes.  Drain and add to the potatoes and carrots.
     In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat.  Add the chicken.  Sprinkle in the flour and stir well.  Add the broth, wine, half and half, and parsley, stirring well.  Bring the mixture to a simmer.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Stir in the vegetables.  Transfer to 4 over safe bowls (fits perfectly into four 14 oz. ramekins).  Spray the rims of ramekins with cooking spray.

     Place ramekin on pie dough, cutting out the crust so that it is slightly wider.  Repeat so that you have 4-8 pieces.  Brush each side of the pie dough pieces with the egg white mixture.   Place one or two pie dough pieces over top of the ramekins.  Poke a few holes through the dough to allow heat to escape.  Place bowls on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
     Note: If you are making this because it is a healthy version, you may want to only use one pie dough piece.  However, my husband insisted on "more crust" so I used three pie dough pieces on top of his!   I only made two of the pot pies the first night and placed the other two in the fridge.  The next night all I had to do was throw the pie crust on top and put them in the oven for 30 minutes!


 Makes 4 servings.