Vegan Chix & Dumplings

Dear hungry bellies,
This blog is to keep track of all the new recipes I’m going to try in 2010. I really love to cook (and eat) and am hoping to try out a new recipe once a week for the whole year. I like to think I am adventurous in the kitchen but I often find myself making the same old things and forgetting recipes that I actually liked. Hopefully this will help me build my growing list of food favorites and remember what I should (and should not!) make again. I’ll post everything, even if it turns out bad, so I guess I will just warn everyone now to make sure & read the whole entry before trying anything.
Everything made will be vegetarian, most of it will be vegan! And so with that, I hope whoever ends up reading this enjoys the food. Onward with recipe #1 of 2010!

Vegan Chix & Dumplings (makes 3 servings, or 2 if you really love dumplings)

For my first attempt I decided to go with the ever delicious and soul warming, chicken and dumplings. I really have no memory of eating this as a home cooked meal growing up, but I did find it quite wonderful and perplexing when it was offered to me as a child. What is a dumpling? I pondered the possibilities. In all honesty, I would eat anything you put in front of me so dumplings, while mysterious in their plump gooey-ness, were questioned only momentarily before reaching the bottom of my stomach.

I now know what a dumpling is, and damn is it good.  Here is my version, vegan-ized and tweaked from a few I found online. This is surely something to keep anyone warm during these cold (and wet, here in the Northwest) winter days.

Dumpling Ingredients
1 cup flour (cake flour is best)
1t baking powder
1/2t salt
1T earth balance (EB)
6T soy milk (or whatever milk substitute you want)

Chix Stew Ingredients
2 1/2 cups “No Chicken Broth” or “Veggie Stock”
1 cup water
2T olive oil
1 onion
2 large cloves of garlic
2 celery stalks
1/2t thyme
1t parsley
2-3 carrots
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup frozen corn
1/2 bag of Quorn Chicken
3T earth balance (EB)
3T flour
salt & pepper to taste

Dumpling Mixture
In a bowl sift flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. In a small pan heat up the EB until melted and add it to the flour mixture. Add soy milk 2 T at a time until the dough sticks together. Don’t mush it too much or it will get tough!

Chix Stew
Pour olive oil into a large pot on medium high heat. Chop onions and celery, mince the garlic, and add it all to the hot oil. Stir for a few minutes until the onions become translucent. Add broth, water, thyme and parsley. Cover and let simmer for 5-10 minutes.
In a separate pot (probably the one you just heated the EB up in for the dumplings) melt your 3T of EB. Whisk in flour 1T at a time and let it bubble. Uncover your broth and use a ladle or measuring cup with a long end and add small amounts (1/4 cup at a time) to the flour and EB mixture, whisking until blended after each addition. When the mixture becomes slightly soupy (probably after 1-1 1/2 cups is added), mix it into your stew.
Now you are ready for the veggies!
Add chopped carrots, peas, corn, and quorn to the stew and mix well so everything is covered. Add salt and pepper to taste and let the soup return to a boil. Return to your dumpling dough and separate it into 12 small balls. Place the dumplings into the stew gently, giving them as much space apart as possible. Turn down your stove so the stew gets to a simmer and cover the pot for 15 minutes. No peeking is allowed once you cover the pot, as it can mess up the texture of the dumplings.
Uncover the pot after 15 minutes and check to make sure the dumplings are cooked through, allow more time if they are still sticky on the inside. Once dumplings are fully cooked… dish up and EAT!

Advertisement