The Perpetual Feast

It is still “unseasonably,” or perhaps unreasonably, cold.  It was 8 degrees last night, weather not fit for woman or beast.  Even the dogs are starting to complain, although not as vociferously as when there was 6 feet of snow and they couldn’t go outside for, as we used to call it “nature”.

So, more comfort food for dinner.  I have never made chicken and dumplings, but they sounded good…and I had aging veggies to use up.  I doctored this recipe from Cooking Light a bit.  The original called for 8 ounces of chicken thighs, but there were none in the freezer, and for fresh parsley – which I wasn’t willing to venture out into the cold to purchase.

Chicken and Dumplings

Cooking spray
2 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1  cup  (1/4-inch) diagonally cut celery
1/2  cup  (1/4-inch) diagonally cut carrot
1/2  cup  chopped onion
1/8  teaspoon  dried thyme (I used a large pinch of each of the herbs)
1/8 teaspoon dried savory
1/8 teaspoon dried chervil
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1  bay leaf
3  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

Dumplings
½ cup  all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon  dried parsley
1/4  teaspoon  baking powder
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/4  cup  fat-free milk

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook about 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add next 8 ingredients (celery through bay leaf) to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Return chicken to pan; cook 1 minute. Add broth to pan; bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

To make the dumplings, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, parsley, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add milk, stirring just until moist. Spoon by heaping teaspoonfuls into broth mixture; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until dumplings are done. Discard bay leaf.  This makes 2 tummy-warming servings at about 5 grams of fat/serving.

COMMENT:  This was very tasty, but I expected the gravy to be thicker.  I think the next time I make this I will thicken the sauce a bit with cornstarch before I add the dumplings.  I also might double the amount of dumplings, since they seemed skimpy. I’d like to make it next time with the chicken thighs, since I think they would have a richer flavor and the same amount of fat.