Description
Cozy, comfort food just got a whole new level of yum. This healthy, creamy Vegan Skillet “Chicken” and Dumplings is brimming with nourishing ingredients: peas, carrots, green beans, chickpeas and corn all bathed in a luscious gravy that is perfectly seasoned and full of soul warming goodness. Delicious, dense gnocchi dumplings will keep you full and satisfied for hours. Your family will think you cooked over stove all day creating this rich and deeply wholesome dish.
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients, and gluten free.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 large yellow onion, fine diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 celery ribs, diced (about ½ cup)
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 Tablespoons GF flour (or thickener of choice)
- 1 cup vegetable broth *
- 1 cup water (or broth)
- 1 cup unsweetened plain plant milk
- 1 Tablespoon tamari *
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 – [ 1b. package ] frozen Classic Mixed Vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn) *
- 1– [ 15 oz. can ] chickpeas, drained and rinsed *
- 1 – [ 12 oz. to 16 oz. package ] gnocchi *
Herb/Spice Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¾ teaspoon ground mustard powder
- 2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried crushed thyme leaves *
- ¼ teaspoon dried crushed rosemary leaves *
- ¼ teaspoon dried ground sage
- 1 ¼ to 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/- to) *
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper (+/-)
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric *
- 1 bay leaf
- Pinch nutmeg – optional *
- Pinch poultry seasoning – optional *
Optional Toppings:
- Fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Place a pot of water on to boil for the gnocchi.
- Place the Herb/Spice Ingredients (except the bay leaves) into a small bowl, whisk to mix. Set aside.
- In a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven or similar large and deep nonstick skillet, add the diced onion and celery; sauté over medium heat until they are soft, approximately 7 to 9 minutes. (see notes on celery) Add a tablespoon or so of water if the onions and celery start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
- Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, then sprinkle the flour over the sautéed veggies and cook for about one minute. Then sprinkle the Herb/Spice Ingredients over the mixture, stirring constantly for 30 seconds to release their fragrance.
- Next add water, veggie broth, plant milk, tamari, nutritional yeast, and bay leaf, stir well to incorporate. Increase the heat to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Simmer and stir constantly to thicken, then simmer for 5 minutes. Taste test the gravy, adjust spices as needed.
- In the meantime, boil the gnocchi according to package directions. Drain, set aside until ready to add to the skillet.
- Add the frozen veggies, chickpeas, and cooked gnocchi, simmer until well heated through, about 3 to 6 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Serve with freshly chopped parsley.
Notes
*Gnocchi Substitutions: You can substitute gnocchi for your favorite pasta. Or if you prefer, you can substitute the gnocchi for 2 cups boiled, small cubed potatoes. If adding raw potatoes directly into this dish, add at Step 5, then increase your cooking time by an additional 20 to 30 minutes, largely depended upon the size of the raw cubed potatoes. Keep in mind the longer cooking time could need more broth. Adding in more broth will require an increase in additional herbs/spices. Keep in mind the more gnocchi, pasta, or potatoes added, the less “broth” there will be. If you want a lot of creamy broth, use less gnocchi, pasta, or potatoes .
*Chickpea Substitutions: You can substitute any bean you wish with this recipe. You can also substitute the chickpeas for soy curls, baked cubed marinated tempeh, or baked cubed marinated tofu. Measure out 1 to 1 ½ cups soy curls, hydrate according to package directions, then chop into small bitesize pieces and add in at step 5 to allow the soy curls to absorb the flavors. Or you can measure our 1 to 1 ½ cups baked cubed marinated tempeh or baked cubed marinated tofu and in at step 7. Keep in mind the more soy curls, tempeh, or tofu added, the less “broth” there will be. If you want a lot of creamy broth, use less soy curls, tempeh, or tofu.
*Celery: If you are not a huge celery fan or it bothers you to crunch on celery, make sure when you are sautéing the onions and celery that you get it tender before moving on to the next step. We suggest adding a couple tablespoons of water or broth and placing a tight-fitting lid on the skillet. We didn’t mind the tiny bit of crunch from the celery, but we could see how that might bother some folks. Take a tiny taste of the cooked celery during the onion/celery sauté process in Step 3. Your sautéed celery end-product will most like be that level of tenderness. If it bothers you, continue to sauté until it reaches your level of tenderness.
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
*Gluten Free Gnocchi: We like Difatti Gluten Free Gnocchi and Delallo Gluten Free Potato and Rice Gnocchi.
*Dried Crushed Thyme Leaves: Dried and crushed thyme leaves are not the same as ground thyme. Ground thyme has a powdery consistency. Whereas dried and crushed thyme leaves have some texture. You can use either in this recipe. We used dried and crushed thyme leaves, so if you are using ground thyme powder, scale back to about half of the amount or less used and check for flavor consistency. Add more if preferred.
*Dried Crushed Rosemary: Dried and crushed rosemary is not the same as ground rosemary. If using a ground rosemary powder, then scale back the amount to 1/8 teaspoon to pinch.
*Turmeric: The turmeric in this recipe is to add color only. If you are not a turmeric fan, then leave it out.
*Nutmeg: Nutmeg add a tiny hint of dimension. It’s barely discernable, but if you have it on hand and are a fan, add it.
*Poultry Seasoning: We would normally add a lot more poultry seasoning; however, when we tried several kitchen tests of this recipe with poultry seasoning, the marjoram in the Poultry Seasoning was too prominent for our taste, resulting in a bitter note at the back of the palate. We opted to use a pinch instead. It adds just a hint of extra flavor. If you have it on hand, add a little pinch or more to taste.
*Vegetables: Use frozen or fresh vegetables. We used frozen for this recipe. It worked perfectly. If using fresh, you may have to cook the veggies longer to reach the desired tenderness.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Storage: Refrigerate, use within 5 days.
*Nutritional Information: Is calculated using the gnocchi and chickpeas.