Hot Stuff and Dumplings…Vegan Style!!

My darling niece Dana’s favourite meal when she was a child was chicken stew with dumplings, but “hot stuff and dumplings” is what she always called it. Dana became vegetarian when she was nine or ten and then became vegan when she was a teenager, so this recipe is in her honour! I used this recipe from Allrecipes and this recipe from Simply Recipes as inspiration.

We likely won’t be able to see Dana this summer because she has a new job, but we were lucky to have a couple of visits from her in May before she started work…

Vegan Chicken and Dill Dumplings

First, make the hot stuff…er, chicken stew….

500 grams chickwheat
2 tablespoons vegan butter, divided
1/2 onion, diced
1 rib celery, sliced thin
1 carrot, diced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 – 3 cups vegan chicken broth (I used veg broth and added 3 TBS vegan chicken broth powder)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tsp poultry seasoning
150 grams potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 cup frozen peas

Melt one TBS vegan butter in a large saucepan and saute the chickwheat until nicely seared. Remove the chickwheat to a bowl and put aside. Melt the other TBS of vegan butter and saute the onion, celery, and carrot for about eight minutes until tender. Sprinkle the flour over top and mix with a whisk for a couple of minutes. Pour in two cups of the vegan chicken broth, whisking as you add it, until smooth and bubbling. Add the salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, potatoes, chickwheat, and peas. Simmer for eight or ten minutes until the potatoes are JUST fork tender. If the stew is looking a bit too thick, gradually stir in up to a cup more broth.

While the stew is simmering, make the dumplings!

1 ½ cups cake flour (the flour should be low in gluten)
2 tsps baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 TBS vegan butter
¾ cup almond milk, or more as needed
2 tablespoons dried dill

Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to your food processor. Pulse to blend and then add the vegan butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the dill, pulse a couple of times, and then add the almond milk and mix just until the dough forms a ball.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough into the simmering stew. Cook, uncovered, for ten minutes. Cover and cook ten more minutes.