Curry Chicken Pot Pie

One thing I try to focus on as I do my weekly grocery shopping is fresh foods.  I don't like the idea of eating lots of highly-processed foods, nor do I like cooking with it.  Canned soups don't exist in our house, along with packaged cookies, instant mac & cheese, boxed mixes, powdered dressing mix, etc.  Instead, I try to buy a lot of fresh produce and good quality meats from the meat counter, and make things with real butter, olive oil, flour...you know, the good old-fashioned way.

However, as much as I would like to, I don't make everything from scratch, so when I do buy something pre-made or processed, I usually try to find the healthiest kind.  For example, Tony absolutely loves ranch dressing on his salad, which is definitely not good for you, so for times when I don't feel like making it myself, I like to get the Greek yogurt ranch dressing from the refrigerated section.

Now that I've been so busy studying, I find myself with less time to prepare dinner the way I would like to.  I've been keeping meals simple and fresh, but every now and then, I'll cave in to something that is quick and just plain good.  And so, I am introducing to you this recipe for Chicken Curry Pot Pie.

I found this recipe one afternoon when I was searching for something relatively quick and easy, and that had 5-star reviews.  I decided to search for some Trader Joe's recipes, and this one came up.  Anyone who knows me well knows that chicken pot pie is my absolute favorite food.  If I could pick my last meal, a good chicken pot pie would be it.  So, when I saw that this was a prize-winning recipe, I was sold.  The best thing about it is it uses only Trader Joe's products, which is where I happen to shop at pretty often (besides Whole Foods and Vons).

Whoops, I didn't cover the edges. 

When this pie came out of the oven, Tony and I were both so eager to dig in.  The buttery pie crust and the yellow curry sauce had created such a wonderful aroma in the house.  The crust was golden brown and flaky, the way it should be, and when we finally started eating, I think there was a good 5 minutes of complete silence!  The flavors were just so incredible.  Tony even made the statement that this was one of his top 10 favorite things I've ever made.  If that's not proof of a great recipe, I don't know what is!

So yes, this does have some pre-made ingredients, such as the TJ's frozen pie crust, and the bottled TJ's yellow curry sauce.  But...if it's this good, I think I'm willing to make the exception every once in a while.   Even though the recipe calls for specific Trader Joe's brand items, feel free to adapt it to your own taste.  I'm sure a homemade pie crust, or a different variety of vegetables, would taste just as great.  Maybe one of these days when I have a little more free time, I'll try making my own version of this...from scratch!

Curry Chicken Pot Pie
Print this recipe
Yield:  6-8 servings
Recipe slightly adapted from Trader Joe's, originally from Trader Joe's 2011 HiiP Recipe Showdown winner, Linda Wang

Ingredients:
1 package TJ's Gourmet Pie Crust, prepared through step 2 for double crust pie
2 cups TJ's Organic (frozen) Foursome Vegetables
1 cup TJ's (frozen) Pearl Onions
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 bottle TJ's Thai Yellow Curry Sauce
1 1/2 cups TJ's Just Chicken

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Microwave Organic Foursome and pearl onions for 1 minute on high, or until defrosted.  Mix flour with curry sauce.  Add vegetables, chicken and curry sauce mixture to bottom pie crust in pan - spread evenly.  Top with pie crust.  Seal and trim off excess pie crust, and flute edge if desired.  Cut vent holes.  Bake for 40 minutes, covering edges of crust with foil halfway through baking.  Cool for 10 minutes before serving.