Recipe: Fast, yummy veggie pie

I am a passionate and serious cook. But in the ’90s, when I was food editor of a national magazine, I struggled to get dinner on the table. After a long day at work, I’d open the fridge and stare in despair. Hand me a recipe and I knew what to do. But for busy weeknights, I needed to cook without one.

To learn, I looked to the past. My mother and grandmother rarely used recipes. Instead, they cooked with techniques and formulas they had internalized.

People today have less time to cook and more choices. So I developed my own techniques that would work with my limited time and vast array of ingredients.

Published in 2000, How to Cook Without a Book was my solution. Learn a few different formulas and you can, indeed, cook confidently without a recipe.

Eleven years later, I’m still cooking by heart. But a couple of years ago my husband and I made a big decision: Eat less meat and fish so we could afford better meat and fish. I quickly found it was a new way of eating and cooking.

Once again I found myself floundering. On meatless days I wasn’t as agile in the kitchen. So I did my homework and came up with a new set of basics. Now, on meatless days I cook confidently.

So here’s my “recipe” for vegetable pot pie, which exemplifies a larger approach. Depending on the season or what you have around, you can create your own pot pie, and that knowledge is what keeps me happily cooking nearly every night of the week.

Quick Veggie Pot Pie

1 large sweet onion, cut into medium dice
½ pound each: sliced cremini mushrooms and chopped cabbage (about ¼ small head)
1 pound red boiling potatoes or sweet potatoes, cut into medium dice
¼ cup olive oil, divided
¾ tsp. dried thyme leaves, divided
Salt and ground black pepper
¼ cup flour
1 cup each: vegetable broth and low-fat evaporated milk, mixed
3 Tbs. dry sherry
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup frozen peas
1 9-inch pie crust from a 14.1-ounce refrigerated box

Toss onion, mushrooms, cabbage and potato of choice with 2 tablespoons oil, ½ teaspoon thyme and a light sprinkling of salt and pepper in a 13- by 9-inch pan. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and place pan on rack; turn oven to 425 degrees and cook vegetables, stirring occasionally until tender, about 20 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Whisk in flour and remaining ¼ teaspoon thyme; cook until golden, about 1 minute. Whisk in milk mixture; simmer until sauce comes to a boil and fully thickens. Turn off heat, stir in sherry and Parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add cooked vegetables to sauce, along with peas; adjust seasonings. Pour mixture into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Cover with pie crust and flute as desired.

Bake on lowest oven rack until sauce is bubbly and crust is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve.

Serves: 6

Per serving: 379 calories, 43g carbohydrates, 9g protein, 20g fat (6g saturated), 13mg cholesterol, 4g dietary fiber, 447mg sodium