Chicken and Dumpling Soup
These dumplings are special. In a warm soup, they take on the flavors of the stock, with a texture you may remember from childhood. The trick to successful keto dumplings is to roll them out thick and put them in the pot just before serving because they don’t need long to cook. This recipe is well loved by my nonketo friends, too! You could use store-bought rotisserie chicken meat, which you’d add to the soup after cooking the vegetables. SOUP 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 2 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs Salt and black pepper
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme (or 2
teaspoons dried thyme)
2 cups homemade or store-bought
chicken broth
8 tablespoons butter, melted
2 bay leaves DUMPLINGS 2 cups shredded part-skim low-moisture
mozzarella
½ cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
3 large egg yolks Instructions:
To make the soup: In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over mediumhigh heat. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the pot and brown for 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
Add the celery, onion, garlic and thyme to the pot and cook, stirring, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 4 cups water, the stock, melted butter and bay leaves and stir to combine. Add the chicken back, bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
To make the dumplings: Have a silicon mat ready. Place mozzarella in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until fully melted, about 1½ minutes. Add coconut flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and egg yolks and mix together. It will make a stiff dough.
Transfer the dough to the mat and knead until smooth. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to the edges of the mat, or until it’s ½-inch thick. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, gently cut strips of dough about 1-inch wide. Sprinkle the strips with a bit of coconut flour so they don’t stick to one another.
Just before serving, carefully add the strips to the soup, 4 or 5 at a time so they won’t stick to each other, and cook very gently for 2 to 3 minutes. For a creamier soup, stir in ½ cup heavy cream after the dumplings have cooked. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings From “Keto Friendly Recipes: Easy Keto for Busy People” by Jennifer Marie Garza (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $22.99)