Chicken & Dumpling Soup

I have to admit, this meal was better the 2nd day. It was great on day 1 too but on day 2 it kind of turned into a stew and it was delicious with a little dollop of sour cream on top. For the chicken in the soup, I put 2 chicken breasts in the crock pot for about 5 hours on low with a package of dry chicken gravy and about 1/2 cup of chicken stock. When they were done they fell apart and easily shredded. You could also just use cooked, diced chicken breasts if you don't have the time to slow roast them. Rather then real dumplings I used large gnocchi which are potato dumplings. I used pesto & cheese filled frozen gnocchi from Trader Joes and they were soft, plump and flavorful.

Chicken & "Dumpling" Soup

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
2 T olive oil
1/2 of a medium onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 bay leaf
2 T poultry seasoning
2 T Italian seasoning
2 T all purpose flour

1 qt chicken stock

2 cups water

5 small yellow potatoes, diced
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen green beans, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 package fresh or frozen gnocchi
Salt & Pepper

Heat olive oil over medium heat in large pot. Add garlic, onion, carrot and celery and cook for 5 minutes until vegetables start to become tender. Stir the bay leaf, poultry seasoning & italian seasoning into to the vegetables. Mix in the flour until combined. Add the chicken stock and water and mix well. Add potatoes, corn and green beans and simmer soup for about 30 minutes until all vegetables are cooked. Season soup with salt and pepper. Depending on whether you are using low sodium chicken stock or not, it may need quite a bit of salt. Add gnocchi and basil and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve immediately with crusty bread for dipping.

Enjoy