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.
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