Unchicken & Dumpling Soup

I love this soup, because it reminds me of what my mom made when I was growing up. I know a lot of people who say their moms were/are bad cooks, but mine has always been solid! It's satisfying and tasty, and, if you don't have all of the listed vegetables on-hand, or you want to add spinach or potatoes or something, it is flexible enough to accommodate. It's especially good if it's a cold night or you're sick, but I like it all of the time.

Unchicken Soup Ingredients

1 TBS olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup green peas

2-3 servings of faux chicken, cooked & diced (I used a kind from Canada called Blue Menu, but I've used diced Morningstar Griller patties, Morningstar Meal Starter Strips, and off-brand faux chicken strips.)

3 large cubes of un-chicken bouillon 

8 cups of water

1 tsp poultry seasoning

2 bay leaves

pepper to taste

Dumpling Ingredients

1.5 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 TBS vegetable shortening

3/4 cup plain soy milk

First, start the soup part. Get a stock pot and add the olive oil, garlic, onion, carrots, and celery, and pan fry until the onions have softened. Add peas and cook for another 5 minutes. Then add in the water, poultry seasoning, bay leaves, and bouillon cubes and cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat.

While the soup is cooking, mix flour, baking powder, and salt, the cut in shortening with a pastry blender. Add soy milk, stir until just combined (over-mixing makes hard dumplings instead of fluffy ones). Set aside.

After the soup had been cooking for 10 minutes, drop the dumplings in gently, and cook for 10 more minutes, uncovered. Then push a dumpling aside and add the cooked un-chicken pieces carefully, trying to keep the dumplings from getting jostled too much. Put the lid on the pot and cook covered for 10 more minutes, then serve. We served it with a simple side salad.

This gets a 4 overall rating.

Nutritional Info for 1/6 of the Soup with dumplings:

276 Calories

11 g Fat

32 g carbs

4.2 g fiber

4.6 g sugar

13.2 g protein

48% Vitamin A

9%   Vitamin C

11% Calcium

156% Iron