Light chicken pot pie with lots of veggies

This better be the last winter meal I make before it gets warm! Here is a lighter take on chicken pot pie – still creamy and delicious but without the heavy cream and pie crust. You’ll need:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 1/2 c chicken stock
• 1 1/2 c milk (I used 2%)
• 3-4 TBS butter
• Heaping 1/2 c flour
• 2 parsnips
• 3-4 carrots
• 1 medium/large head of broccoli
• 1/2 onion
• 4-5 big stems of kale
• 3/4 c frozen cut green beans
• 3/4 c panko bread crumbs
• Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
• Salt, pepper and nutmeg

Boil the chicken thighs; shred and set aside. Cut the carrots into smaller-than-bitesize pieces, saute with chopped onions and olive oil. Cut up broccoli, parsnips (same size as carrots), and shred the kale. Cook the carrots and onions for about 15 minutes covered. Add parsnips, kale, broccoli, and green beans and cook until all veggies are tender – about another 10-15 minutes.

Mmm veggies

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add flour and whisk. It will get too clumpy to stir; at that point add the milk and stir vigorously until combined. When it gets thick, add the broth and whisk to combine. Continue to simmer on low for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally – it will become the consistency of a thick gravy. Remove from heat and whisk in salt and pepper to taste; add nutmeg. I used as much nutmeg as in this picture, twice – I grind the nutmeg right into the pot so it’s hard to measure, but I would estimate about 1 1/2 teaspoons.

Freshly ground nutmeg!

Combine the chicken, flour mixture, and veggies and mix until all ingredients are well-coated. Spray a casserole or 13x9 glass pan with olive oil. Chop the parsley and mix with the breadcrumbs; spread over the top. Bake covered with tin foil on 350 for 15 minutes, uncovered for 10, and broil for just a minute or two at the end to crisp the breadcrumbs. Serve!

Divided into 4 (big!) servings, this only comes out to about 475 calories per serving.

Veggie lasagna: kale, eggplant and broccoli

I really wanted lasagna for dinner but didn’t want to make a separate vegetable, so I threw them all in, substituting 2 layers of noodles with eggplant. I have looked in every store that I frequent (including Whole Foods, which I did not actually enter and don’t actually frequent, but David tells me they don’t have it) for whole wheat lasagna noodles. No dice, so I just used Barillo. Amazon has a couple of different brands which I am going to try.

You’ll need:

• 2 cups finely chopped broccoli
• 2-3 handfuls kale, also finely chopped
• 1 large eggplant
• 1 cup fat free Trader Joe’s cottage cheese
• 15 oz fat free ricotta
• 1 egg
• 1 jar of RAO’s homemade tomato basil sauce (more if you want sauce for serving)
• 12 oz bag Trader Joe’s shredded low fat mozzarella
• 6 no-boil lasagna noodles (I used Barillo)

Slice 6 pieces of the eggplant lengthwise, about 1/4” thick, and broil on both sides for 3-5 minutes each. Set aside.

Finely chop the broccoli and kale and sauté in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil, uncovered, until a little crispy.

Broccoli and kale before cooking – shrinks down a lot when done.

Whisk the egg in a small mixing bowl, add ricotta and cottage cheese and mix well.

I used a lasagna pan; this many layers and ingredients would probably be too much for a 13x9 pan. Drizzle a little sauce on the bottom of the pan and place 3 noodles on top. Spoon about 1/4 of the ricotta mixture in dollops onto the noodles, followed by a thin layer of mozzarella.

Cover with 3 slices of eggplant, perpendicular to the noodles if there’s space (I fit 2 that way), followed by another 1/4 of the ricotta mixture. Spoon more sauce in dollops, then sprinkle the broccoli/kale mixture in an even layer. Cover with a thin layer of mozzarella, and three more noodles.

The rest of the layers are the same portions, and I did them in this order: Ricotta, sauce, eggplant, ricotta, mozzarella, noodles, sauce, remainder of the mozzarella.

Cover and bake on 350 for 25 minutes, uncover and bake for another 10, let stand for about 10 minutes before serving!

Divided into 6 (BIG) servings, this only comes out to about 340 calories per serving!