Weekend Cooking 4/7

Each weekend, Beth Fish Reads hosts Weekend Cooking.  This is perfect for me since I love food and cooking almost as much as I love books!

We had a week of mostly easy meals with plenty of left-over nights. We were away last weekend but came home in time for a quickie Easter dinner before my oldest son headed back to college. It's a tradition in my extended family to have a big Easter dinner with all the traditional Ukrainian foods (my great-grandparents came to the US from the Ukraine in the early 1900's). With very little time for cooking last week, we did a mini version here: pierogies (good old Mrs. T's), ham, Polish sausage, hrraine (spelled phonetically! I think it may actually be khryn) - a relish made of beets and horseradish, and the hardboiled eggs the boys and I colored last week (plus some frozen veggies to offset all that protein!). I did miss the holubtsi (cabbage rolls) and prune rolls, but those both take a lot of time to make.

I also made Hoppin' John this week, using the left-over ham from Easter (the link is to my own recipe, posted on New Year's Eve last year). On Thursday, we traveled to Baltimore to meet an old high school friend of mine who was visiting. I hadn't seen her in 30 years, so we had fun catching up! My husband and son were good sports - I had bribed them to make the trip with Baltimore crabs for dinner!

And one night this week, I made my own quick version of Chicken Pot Pie (recipe below).

Hope you are enjoying food and cooking this week!
 

Quick & Easy Chicken Pot Pie

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small green pepper, chopped

3/4 bag of baby carrots (about 12 oz.), sliced

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 1/2 cans chicken broth (about 3 cups)

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

Fresh ground pepper

1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

2 packets chicken gravy mix (like McCormick’s)

1 refrigerated pie crust

1.     Saute onion, pepper, and carrot in oil in a large saucepan until onion is translucent. 

2.     Add garlic, broth, and seasonings, and bring to a boil.

3.     Add chicken, reduce heat, and simmer on medium until chicken is cooked and carrots are soft, about 15 minutes. Add frozen corn during the last few minutes.

4.     Sprinkle powdered gravy mix into saucepan, while whisking. Once it is incorporated, switch to a spoon and stir frequently over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until thickened.

5.     Pour mixture into a round 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spread pie crust over the top and fold edges under. Pinch around the edges of the pie crust and poke liberally with a fork to allow steam to escape.

6.     Bake at 425 degrees (or according to pie crust instructions) for 10-15 minutes, until crust is lightly browned.

Makes about 5-6 servings.

For 6 servings, each serving has about: 366 cal, 10.5 g fat (26% of calories from fat).

© 2013 Suzan L. Jackson