Healthy Chicken Pot Pie

Savory Eats

This recipe rocks. Traditional chicken pot pie is far from nutritious; thus, "healthy chicken pot pie" is what I consider a foxymoron (food oxymoron). After discovering a variation of this gem on Hungry Girl about 8 years ago, my mom and I have cooked and tweaked the recipe to perfection. Not only will you savor every bite, but the calorie count will blow you away (see below). Without further ado...

Ingredients:

• One roll of Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Roll Dough
• One can of 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken
• One can of 98% Fat Free Cream of Celery
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• Fresh dill
• Fresh rosemary
• 2 large carrot sticks, chopped
• 2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 1 cup of sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas
• 1/2 cup of frozen corn
• 1 large zucchini (or 1 yellow squash), chopped
• 3-4 chicken breasts, shredded (I use the breasts from the whole roasted chickens you can buy at most grocery stores)
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Parts of the pot pie filling!

Recipe:

-Chop and saute the onion until golden brown.

-Chop and add the zillion other vegetables from the list above to the onions. Saute until vegetables are soft.

-Wash and chop the fresh dill and fresh rosemary. Add 2 generous tablespoons of each herb to the vegetables.

-Add salt, pepper (I use lemon pepper), and garlic powder. There isn't a scientific amount of spice in this recipe. I usually just base it off taste! If you are a cooking-newbie, start with 1/2 tablespoon of each in this step, then add extra salt to taste before eating.

At this point, your vegetable saute should resemble this (if it doesn't, don't quit your day job).

-Shred the chicken and add it to the vegetables. Put this mixture to the side.

-In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 can of Cream of Chicken soup and 1/2 can of Cream of Celery soup. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix until smooth and uniform.

-Add the soup/lemon juice mix to the vegetables/chicken and mix.

-Pour into a baking dish (I used a 7x11 dish)...

Now, pay attention.

-Preheat the oven to 375.

-Unroll the uncooked crescent roll dough so it is in flat sheets and place on top of the vegetables. Pinch the edges of the dough around the edges of the baking dish...

Like so...for you visual learners.

-Bake the dish at 375 for 18-20 minutes until the edges of the dough are golden brown.

As I made very clear before, I love this recipe. After experiencing the rich and creamy filling in contrast to the flaky and crunchy crust, it is extremely hard to believe that there are only 1,250 calories in the entire pot pie. The recipe makes 4 generous servings (a light, 300-calorie entree per person!). You will lick your plate clean like we did...

I promise I'm not a midget...I just have tall friends.