Herbed Chicken and Dumplings

Okay, I got a bit excited with the summer food, but the weather is not quite there yet, and I figured I should probably put something up to help us through the chilly spring days.

I love chicken and dumplings, but I'd never actually made it before. When I told my husband I was going to make it, he threw a fit and complained that he didn't like slimy mushy dough in his soup! Apparently he's had a traumatic dumpling incident in the past. But, big man that he is, still bravely tried it, cleaned his bowl, and got up for more, what a guy! This was incredibly simple to make. The only thing I would do differently is probably double the amount of dumplings, the recipe makes enough, but they are the best part, and I want more! It is a Cooking Light recipe, but the soup is still light enough that a few extra dumplings couldn't hurt! Also, I didn't have chicken thighs, so I used chicken breasts. It was still good, but I know it would have been so much better with the thighs, so do your best to use boneless skinless chicken thighs.

Herbed Chicken and Dumplings
Found in Cooking Light October 2008 ed

Ingredients

8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
3/4 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
3 parsely sprigs
1 bay leaf
3 cups fat free, less sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon fresh parsely
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup 1% milk

Directions

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

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, chopped parsley, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Add milk, stirring just until moist. Spoon by heaping teaspoonfuls into broth mixture; cover and summer 10 minutes or until dumplings are done. Discard parsley sprigs and bay leaf.

Makes 2 servings (I doubled this recipe for my family of 4, we had leftovers): serving size 2 WHOLE CUPS!

Per Serving: 285 calories, 5.2g fat, 25g prot, 35.2g carb, 3.1g fiber, 55mg chol, 3.4 mg sod

Points per serving: 6