Foodie Friday: Winter Cobbler

I made winter cobbler again recently, and thought I should share the recipe, as this iteration went over well with almost everyone in my family!  (Even Ponchik ate it without complaint and that child doesn't like potatoes in any form, nosir.  It's a good thing she looks like me, or I'd wonder where she came from).  I made it again earlier this week and was again well received, so I'll take that as a hit! 

I sort of made it up, but it is loosely based on a recipe I saw in Beatrice Ojakangas' Best Casserole Book Ever as well as a recipe I saw made on The Great British Bake Off.  The trick is to slice all the vegetables very thinly (in disc-shapes).   That way, the zucchini-haters in the family could just remove that layer from their portions. The Bake-Off pie that inspired me to try this again featured couscous as one of the layers, but only half my kids like that, so I ended up serving it on the side.  I think it would be lovely inside, though.

Everyone gobbled this up so quickly, I only had time to snap a photo of Piglet's plate since he was late to dinner that night.

Winter Cobbler

2 medium baking potatoes or 2# baby yellow potatoes, sliced thinly (peeling is optional)

2 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

1 small to medium zucchini, sliced thinly

3 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly

2 small or 1 large sweet onion, halved and sliced (but not diced!)
16 oz package of diced frozen butternut squash (optional)

2 packages of Gardein Teriyaki Chick'n Strips, thawed and diced (set sauce packet aside)

Olive oil (a couple of tablespoons)

Maldon salt (or sea salt)

1 1/2 packages of prepared pie crust (Pillsbury's is vegan)

9x13 glass dish

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray pan with oil to prevent sticking.  Layer vegetables in the pan in order, leaving off the Gardein and pie crust.  (It is important to put the yellow potatoes on the bottom layer, as sweet potatoes get a hard crust and stick if they are on the bottom).  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt (do not stir) and bake in the oven about 50 minutes.  Let stand to cool a bit. *Preroasting the vegetables saves time at the end, but it does take a while, so I find it helpful to do this step earlier in the day.

Add the diced Gardein to the top of the pan, evenly distributed, and drizzle the contents of both sauce packets over the pan.  Do not stir.  Place pie crusts over the top and arrange to your liking.  Cut in some steam vents throughout and bake at 425 for 40-45 minutes, or until pie crust is a deep golden brown.  Let stand for 5 minutes and then slice and serve.

Goes well with couscous.  If you are feeling ambitious, you can add the (prepared) couscous to the pan at the same time as the gardein.