Faux Chicken and Dumplings

Living in Tempe or as I like to say 'Tempeh" Arizona, it doesn't really get too chilly here. I have not experienced many cold days that have frozen me down to my marrow, but the last few days (today especially) have been a wee bit cold for my thin Arizona blood. Last night as I stood in the kitchen shivering, I contemplated making a blanket of biscuits to keep me warm, but after weighing the pros and cons of biscuit blankets I settled on some good ol' comfort food. Chicken and Dumplings to be exact. My grandmother made these for me as a child and I would wait in the kitchen for her word of completion to be the first to chow down on this tasty meal. As an adult my diet has changed pretty drastically and chicken is definitely not on my menu. So what to do? Tofu? Seitan? Tempeh? Gardein chicken pieces? No, none of those. I decided on Soy Curls. If you have not tried these little gems, I suggest you pick them up on your next shopping adventure.

This was my first attempt at Veganizing this classic meal but I think it turned out very well.

Ingredients:
1/2 stick Earth Balance
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup Soy Curls, pre-soaked
3/4 cup flour (I like mine thicker, you can use 1/2 cup for a thinner version)
1/4 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
6 cups of veggie broth
1 to 2 Bay leaves

Dumplings:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup rice milk
1 T. parsley
2 T. olive oil

Soak Soy Curls in hot water for 10 minutes. In a skillet melt butter and toss in onions and carrots and sautee until tender. In a large saucepan bring veggie broth, salt, flour and bay leaves to a boil. While the onions are cooking make your dumplings. In a large bowl mix flour, salt, baking powder and parsley. Add olive oil and soy milk and mix with fork until you have a sticky dough. Add onion mix, soy curls and dumplingd to boiling broth, lower to a medium heat and cook for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it, because mine got a bit bubbly and threatened me with boiling over but I gave it a slight stir with a spoon and all was well.