Cooking Spray
2 to 3 cloves garlic pressed or minced
1 cup chopped onion
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders
8 cups water mixed with 1½ tablespoons chicken soup base
1½ cups sliced celery
1 ½ cups sliced carrots
1 ½ cups green beans cut into bite size pieces
½ teaspoon dry rosemary
½ teaspoon dry thyme
1 bay leaf
fresh ground pepper to taste
Lightly spray a large Dutch oven with cooking spray and preheat over medium high heat. Sauté garlic until lightly browned add onions and continue to cook until translucent. Place chicken meat in Dutch oven along with onions and garlic and cover with 2 cups of the chicken stock setting the remaining 4 cups of stock aside. Add ¼ teaspoon salt, pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand 30 minutes. Remove chicken from Dutch oven and set aside.
Add remaining broth along with vegetables and bay leaf. Simmer soup until vegetables are tender about 1 to 2 hours. Cut or shred chicken into pieces and set aside.
Cook’s Note: To speed up the cooking process you can microwave the vegetables unit tender crisp. Add to soup base and bring to boil and then add dumplings.
BUTTERMILK DUMPLINGS
Sift dry ingredients together in bowl. In a separate container beat egg into butter- milk until combined. Using a fork mix buttermilk egg mixture into dry ingredients to make a moist stiff batter. Don’t over mix. Drop 12 rounded heaping teaspoons of batter into boiling soup, cover soup reduce heat to low and cook without lifting lid for 18 to 20 minutes. Stir dumplings to separate and return chicken meat to soup, adjust seasonings if necessary. Heat all ingredients together for an additional 2 to 3 minutes before serving.
Yield 12 to servings each at approximately 158 calories; 1 gram total fat; 0.2 saturated fat; 55 milligrams cholesterol; 16 grams total carbohydrate; 1.5 grams dietary fiber; 20.8 grams total protein; 503 milligrams sodium
Compare traditional high fat version at 345 calories and 20 grams total fat
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