Chicken 'n' Dumplins....? YES, Please!

I am a huge fan of soups once the snow flies...and really any time that it is below 40 degrees outside.  There are a few recipes my family leans on when Thanksgiving and Christmas have occurred and there is poultry and then some to rid ourselves of.  We usually end up with so much leftover Thanksgiving turkey that it gets frozen into "reasonably consumable amount" sized freezer bags and then it is used as quickly as it can be once thawed.  This recipe could be made with turkey, duck and goose just as easily as chicken; any bird you slap on the table for the holidays.  I had chicken to use, so that's how I rolled here.  This recipe calls for diced carrots and celery but I am NOT a fan of celery chunks so I ran mine through a food processor.  We do, however, LOVE carrots so I opted to use whole baby carrots rather than diced.  This recipe can be a bit involved so lets get started.

Dairy Free Chicken & Dumplings
3 lbs of chicken meat, shredded
6 c. unsalted chicken stock (do NOT use broth)
2 T. vegan buttery spread
1 T. oil
1 T. flour
1/2 c. diced carrots
1/2 c. diced celery
3 tsp. minced garlic (3 cloves)
2 bay leaves
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. soy creamer
fresh cracked pepper

In a large pot, melt butter and heat oil over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to make a roux (looks like a paste). Continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes to coat the flour and remove the starchy taste. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Roux

 Let sauce simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Stir in soy creamer.   Fold the reserved shredded chicken into the sauce and bring up to a simmer.

How it looks at this stage....like soup

 Dumplings
2 c. flour
2 eggs or 2 tsp. egg replacer
1 tsp. sea salt
1 T. aluminum free baking powder
1 c. soured unsweetened soy milk
1 T. dried parsley

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs or egg replacer and milk together; pour the liquid in the dry ingredients and gently fold. Mix just until the dough comes together, the batter should be thick and cake-like. 

Using 2 spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoonfuls I used my Pampered Chef medium scoop) of the dumpling batter into the hot mixture. The dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be touching or crowded. If there isn't enough room to cook them all in one shot, let as many fit as can without touching and do another batch after the first are done.  Let the dumplings poach for 10 to 15 minutes until they are firm and puffy. Season with freshly cracked black pepper before serving.

I probably don't need to tell you that this is awesome...do I?  My family and I loved it, I'll be making it again and again through the winter.  Hope you enjoy it!