New Mexican Pot Pie

Serve this dish with an avocado salad. Have chopped jalapeño and green onions available for those who want to add it.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons light olive oil, divided
• 1 small onion, peeled and diced
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 2 (15.5-ounce) cans of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• ¾ cup vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon tamari or other soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ½ cup cornmeal
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup milk or soymilk

1. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the slow cooker. Stir in the onion and carrot. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until the onions are transparent and the carrots are softened. Stir in the bell pepper, garlic, corn, pinto beans, jalapeño, vegetable stock, tamari or soy sauce, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.
2. To make the top crust for the pot pie, add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and baking soda to a bowl, and mix well. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of oil and milk or soymilk, and mix until just combined. On a lightly floured surface, roll or pat the resulting dough into a shape about the same size as your cooker. Place the crust on top of the cooked bean mixture in the slow cooker, and cover and cook on high for 1 hour more or until crust is cooked through.

Or, if you prefer…

Instead of making a top crust for the New Mexican Pot Pie, you can mix a corn muffin mix according to package directions and drop teaspoon-sized dollops of the batter on top of the bean mixture in the slow cooker. Or, you can reduce the amount of salt that you add to the bean mixture and serve it with corn chips or baked tortilla chips instead.