I am generally not much of a comfort food person, but during a cold snap, this WAS pretty good for dinner after coming in from barn chores. I adapted this recipe from The Modern Proper, adding a few more vegetables than called for (including adding a half a bag of spinach that we had on hand), and subbing most of the dairy products. The only dairy I did leave in was the buttermilk. I find that if a recipe is calling for buttermilk, it’s probably there for a reason. This came out very well, but I made the dumplings too big, so they were a little gluey. Would definitely make this again with smaller dumplings.

• extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2-3 carrots, sliced
• 2-3 celery ribs, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used Earth Balance)
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour (used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all purpose)
• 4 cups chicken stock or broth
• 1 cup whole milk (used oat milk)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
• Shredded chicken – I boiled a few chicken breast tenders that we had in the freezer
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (GF flour)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder (GF baking powder)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup whole milk (oat milk)

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Once the oil is glistening, add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until the veggies are beginning to soften, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 more minute.

Add the butter and whisk until melted. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, whisking continuously, until fully incorporated, about 2 minutes. Slowly stir in the chicken stock, then bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low to and simmer until the carrots and celery are tender, and the soup has thickened about 5-6 minutes.

Stir in the milk, salt, pepper, dill, and chicken and let simmer.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk and whole milk. Using a wooden spoon carefully mix dumpling dough, stirring just until moistened (do not overmix).

Drop tablespoon-size dough balls into the soup. Cover and cook until dumplings have quadrupled in size and have a biscuit-like texture, about another 15 minutes.
Stir, to incorporate the dumplings. Divide between bowls, sprinkle with salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.