Easiest Best Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and dumplings isn’t one of the most beautiful looking or fanciest meals, but it might be one of the tastiest, coziest, most comforting thing to make on a cold evening. I’ve adapted this one over time from a recipe from Real Simple and have made it even more simple and right to our tastes. You can of course make it more complicated by making your own stock, but the one below is quick and easy enough for a weeknight, which makes it our go-to.

EASIEST BEST CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Serves: 6 or so

Time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

—2-3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

—1 onion, diced

—3-4 celery ribs, sliced, including leaves if you want (I do)

—3 large or 4 medium carrots, sliced

—one clove garlic, minced (optional)

—1 T olive oil

—1 T butter (or use more olive oil)

—sprig of thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme (optional)

—4 tsp chicken bullion paste (I use Organic Chicken Better than Bullion), or 8 cups chicken stock**

—2 c AP flour

—6 T butter, melted

—3/4 c minus 2 tsp milk***

—2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar***

—1 T baking powder

—1/2 tsp baking soda

—1 tsp diamond crystal kosher salt, or 1/2 tsp of regular salt

—additional salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

—In a large soup pot with a lid, heat the 2 T oil and butter (or all oil) over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and optional garlic and cook until translucent and soft but not beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken and thyme and stir, then add the 4 tsp bullion paste plus 8 cups of water or the broth, stir again to combine and cover. Bring to a low boil and simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.

—Meanwhile, mix the lemon juice and milk and let sit (at least 2-3 minutes) to make “butter”milk. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1 tsp kosher salt, and pepper if you’d like. Melt the 6 T butter if you haven’t already.

—Once the chicken is cooked through, remove each piece of chicken and shred with a fork until all the chicken is shredded, keeping the rest of the soup warm over medium low heat while you do this. Return the shredded chicken along with any accumulated juices back to the pot and turn the heat to medium high while you make the dumplings. Once it’s bubbling again, taste the soup and adjust seasonings; add pepper and salt if needed.

—Add the melted butter to the flour mixture, stirring to combine, and then add the milk and lemon mixture. Stir gently just until just combined.

—Drop batter by rounded tablespoons-full into the hot soup, covering the surface of the soup with dumplings. Place the lid back on the pot and let simmer, covered, for 12 minutes. Turn heat off and let the lid stay on for another minute or two, then ladle the dumplings and stew into bowls. Enjoy!

**You can certainly make this with water instead of stock or bullion—if I’m doing this I try to get bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for a bit more flavor, but not strictly necessary. You will need to season the final soup more without the saltiness of the stock.

***If you have buttermilk you can certainly use it here or substitute plain, unsweetened kefir or a runny plain yogurt), but I find that this easy soured milk works great here.

Cauliflower Tacos with Easy Charred Salsa and Cilantro Crema

This recipe is a home run in our house—everyone gets to build their own creation from a multitude of options, and it’s always delicious. The salsa is a very loose recipe that comes from our friend Chile in Mexico; his mom used to make it for him and he made it for us, charring the veggies on a grill. So far I haven’t replicated it to taste as good as his, but even the worst batch is still fantastic. As for the rest of the taco toppings, feel free to change or adjust to your liking!

Purple cauliflower adds color and interest. I like to chop up the healthy looking leaves and keep them in the mix, too!

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:

TACOS:

—1 head of cauliflower, torn or cut into bite sized pieces, I use the leaves too

—1 T taco seasoning, use prepared or I like to make this one, from Alton Brown, using regular paprika and plain old ground cumin. :)

—salt and pepper

—olive oil

—8 tortillas, taco-sized, corn or flour

SALSA:

—three large tomatoes, cut in half

—half a white onion, cut into three wedges

—2-3 cloves garlic, peeled

—1-2 jalapeños or serranos, to taste

—salt

—lime juice (optional)

CILANTRO CREMA:

—3/4 c sour cream

—2 T cilantro, chopped

—1 T lime juice (substitute lemon juice is okay too)

—1 clove garlic, minced, or sub a few shakes of garlic powder

—1/2 salt, to taste, plus fresh ground pepper

—drizzle of olive oil

—a few shakes of Tajin seasoning, optional

ADDITIONAL ACCOMPANIMENTS:
—avocado, sliced

-cheese, crumbled or finely grated—I prefer a salty cheese like cotija, pecorino, or parmesan

—refried or whole black beans

—pickled onions (toss 1/4 thinly sliced red onion with 1 T lime juice, salt and pepper, let sit for 5-10 min)

—cabbage salad or salsa, my recipe is here

Simple is best!

Almost easier than opening a jar. Certainly easier than going to the store.

INSTRUCTIONS:

—Preheat broiler.

—Using gloves or being very careful of your fingers with the spicy peppers, pull or cut the stems out of the jalapeños, and seed them if you are worried about heat (I usually take a tiny bite of one to see what I’m dealing with before adding them!). Place tomatoes (cut side up), onion, jalapeño, and garlic on a sheet pan under the broiler. SET THE TIMER and check after 4-5 minutes—I usually remove the smaller garlic and peppers at this point and let the tomatoes and onion keep going for another 4-5. You want everything to be wilted and slightly charred. Remove from oven and turn the oven to 400 degrees.

—Meanwhile, toss cauliflower pieces, olive oil, taco seasoning, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper with your hands on a sheet pan. Once the salsa veggies are charred, put the cauliflower in the oven to roast, ideally 30 minutes or until roasted and slightly charred, but check and flip after about 20 min.

—Meanwhile, place toasted jalapeño and garlic in a food processor and pulse until fine. Add tomato and onion and pulse several times for one second each until you get a chunky salsa consistency. You can also add all of the veggies and blend in a blender, taking care to not over-blend. Add 1/2 tsp salt and then taste and adjust for seasoning, adding a squeeze of lime juice and/or more salt and pepper if necessary.

—Make crema by whisking all ingredients together (except Tajin)—taste and adjust seasonings. Usually more salt and lime are welcome. :). Garnish with optional Tajin.

—Start onions pickling, warm up beans on medium low heat, grate cheese, and slice avocado, if using. Warm tortillas, either in a pan, microwave, or quickly under the broiler on a sheet pan, watching them like.a hawk.

Serve up all of the ingredients and let each eater make the tacos of their dreams!

Colorful and delicious!