Easy Chicken Pot Pie – And I Mean Really Easy!

I had half a tray of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the fridge and thought…. ‘What will I make with these?” The first half of the tray was used to make Chicken Tortilla Soup (watch for that post later). I decided on chicken pot pie. It’s a great fall dish, but I don’t eat a lot of cream or milk, so I made it with more of a gravy. Here’s my super easy version.

Put about 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs and some good quality olive oil in a frying pan which has a lid. Season with salt and pepper, cook until done which should take about 15 minutes at medium high heat. Turn often, and press down with a fork or spatula. Remember to season both sides.

In a large glass pie plate, layer in mini carrots, one tin of sliced potatoes, one onion sliced. Sprinkle generously with non clumping flour. I love this product for gravies and anything you have to add flour to make a sauce. Chop up the chicken thighs and put on top of the mixture in the pie plate, it should mound quite high. Pour about one cup of chicken stock over the whole thing, enough to pool about 1/2 inch of liquid at the bottom of the pie plate. When it cooks, the flour and stock will make a gravy. I use a frozen deep dish pie shell which has been sitting out if the freezer for about 15 minutes. Turn over the pie shell onto the mixture, cut a few vent holes. And put the whole thing on a cookie sheet and into a 350 oven for about 45 minutes. Voila. Chicken pot pie.

“Night Before” Roast Chicken – Cold For a Hot Day

I think many of you agree that ideas for dinner are sometimes generated by the weather!  In the winter, comfort food and crock pot cooking, and meaty pastas warm the cockles of our hearts.  In the summer, sweltering heat and humidity make us not want to eat at all!    I knew it was going to be hot today — one of the first really hot days of our Kingston summer — so last night when I was making dinner, I put a chicken in the oven to roast while I ran around driving and picking up my kids.    Roast chicken is so simple:   buy chicken at grocery store, turn oven to 350 degrees, rinse chicken and pat dry, put in a small roasting pan, sprinkle a good amount of BBQ seasoning (or any seasoning you like), cover with tinfoil, and let cook for about an hour an a half.   Then take the tinfoil off, and cook for another 20-30 minutes.   Take out of the oven, and let cool.   Then cover with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge.   Now you have a whole roast chicken!    Tonight I’ll take the meat off the bones with my hands to put on top of a nice cold, fresh salad.

For salad, I’ll use whatever fresh lettuce and fresh veg I have in the fridge. I always have a mix of salad greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions or red onions.   My boys both like  a great big salad with lots of stuff in.  So I nearly always add dried cranberries, sesame seeds, and sometimes add deep fried onion bits (I know they’re not good for you, but a few on top of a salad?  Come on, yum!).    Add the cold chicken, some ranch dressing, and voila in about 15 minutes you’ve got Cold Chicken for a Hot Day!