Turkey pot pie

While I love Thanksgiving, I could completely leave out the turkey and be entirely content. The sides are where it's at for me - the spoon bread, the corn pudding, the stuffing...a plate full of side dishes would still be a perfect Thanksgiving. What keeps me coming back to the turkey, though - besides the expectation of its presence at the table - is the turkey pot pie I make afterward.

After the first Thanksgiving I held myself when I moved to Canada, I had a lot of leftover turkey. E, another graduate student in my lab at the time, passed along this recipe. For the super-lazy, just use pre-made pie crust; this couldn't be simpler, and it freezes well. I usually end up with two pies, since there is always lots of dark meat hiding where my less-than-stellar butchering skills can't find it when dinner is originally served.

Turkey Pot Pie
(makes 1 9" pie - double for two pies)

2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup onion
2 stalks sliced celery
2 Tbsp leftover gravy
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup of milk
2 cups chopped turkey
2 - 3 cups of frozen vegetables*
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Saute onions and celery in butter until tender. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Put in two-crust pie. Bake at 425 degrees of 28 minutes.

*The original recipe calls for 1/2 a bag of frozen veggies, like peas, carrots, and corn. However, often these bags are enormous - and without lots of freezer space or the tendency to eat these otherwise, I use a combination of frozen peas and corn, and cut up a carrot into small pieces and throw that in, too. Use whatever you like in a pot pie.