After a freakishly warm beginning to winter in Buffalo, it has been really cold out the past couple days. On top of that, the heating vent in my office at work has been messed up and actually blowing cold air on me all day (finally got fixed today – phew!). Needless to say, by the time I got home from work tonight I was looking for a nice, hot bowl of comfort food to warm me up from the inside out. This dish absolutely did the trick. The dumplings are big, soft and puffy, there is a ton of chicken in each serving and the fresh herbs give this dish so much flavor. I usually save a lot of points for dinner (for those who don’t know, I follow the Weight Watchers Points Plus plan), but after one bowl of this I was stuffed with a few points to spare! Don’t worry, I spent them wisely (on wine). This really is the ideal winter comfort food, and it’s one your body can feel good about! To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
If you're looking for a hot, flavorful bowl of comfort food to warm you up from the inside out, this recipe is for you!
Yield: 8servings
Ingredients
Stew Ingredients:
3teaspooncanola oil, divided
2lbsboneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise (so they cook faster)
1medium onion, finely chopped
2medium carrots, diced
2medium leeks, white & light green parts only, sliced thin
3tablespoonswhite whole wheat flour
¼cupdry white wine
4cupsfat free reduced sodium chicken broth
¼cupskim milk
3springs fresh thyme, leaves only
1bay leaf
1-2tablespoonsfresh tarragon leaves, minced
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Dumpling Ingredients:
1cupwhite whole wheat flour
1cupall purpose flour
1tablespoonbaking powder
1teaspoonsalt
1cupskim milk
2tablespoonslight butter
2teaspoonsfresh tarragon leaves, minced
2teaspoonsfresh parsley, minced
2teaspoonschives, minced
Instructions
In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, bring 1 ½ teaspoons of oil over medium heat. When the oil is heated, add the chicken breasts to the pot in a single layer. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Let the chicken cook, flipping once, until the outsides are browned and the center is almost or just cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate and set aside.
Add the remaining 1 ½ teaspoons of oil to the pot and add the onions, carrots and leeks. Allow the vegetables to cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir the flour into the vegetables until coated. Add the wine, broth, milk, thyme and bay leaf. Shred chicken breasts into small pieces (or chop) and add the chicken to the pot as well. Stir to combine and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and simmer for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, uncover and add the tarragon, salt & pepper.
While the stew is simmering, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt for the dumplings in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk and butter and microwave until just warmed (butter should be just melted), 1-2 minutes. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture in the large bowl and stir together until thoroughly combined. Mix in the tarragon, parsley and chives.
When the stew is done cooking, drop spoonfuls of the dumpling dough into the pot forming 16 large dumplings (or 24 smaller dumplings if you prefer). Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Cook for 15-18 minutes until the dumplings puff up and double in size. Dunk dumplings to coat with the stew and serve.
Notes
To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!Nutrition Information: 322 calories, 32 g carbs, 2 g sugars, 7 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 28 g protein, 3 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)MyWW SmartPoints per (3/4 cup stew + 2 dumplings) serving:(SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)Green: 8 SmartPoints/ Blue: 6 SmartPoints/ Purple: 6 SmartPointsWeight Watchers Points Plus: 8 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)adapted from Soup Addict