Boat Food! - Chicken &/or Veggies and Dumplings.

It's a one-pot wonder on a cold, blustery day.  And this weekend was a perfect day for dumplings.  This is for chicken and green bean (weird combo, right?  But it was good!) dumplings, but I'll add info below for veggie/vegan/gluten free changes.


Here are the ingredients I used - with alternatives/ideas to the side:
Chicken  - omit for vegan/veggie
Mushrooms - use a lot as a chicken replacement.  You can use another meat substitute if you like - I just avoid processed foods
Greenbeans - lots of veggies would work, but make sure it's one that can handle cooking for a while - diced potatoes, for example
Stock - chicken, veggie, etc.  You can use boullion cubes if that's what you keep on board, but I prefer the health benefits of bone stock when I can get/make it
Garlic
Self-rising flour - I had this on board, so it's what I used - but use a gluten free flour if you have access/prefer
Milk use water instead - no big deal)
Butter - omit, if you like
Coconut oil
Seasonings

I started by tossing the chicken and greenbeans (fresh from the farmer's market!) into my biggest pot.

Then I added about 4 cups of chicken stock, sliced fresh mushrooms (use canned if that works better for you) and some garlic

 While these ingredients simmered, I mixed up the dough for the dumplings.  I started with the recipe on the back of the self-rising flour bag.  While I am southern, I do not use Crisco.  I substituted coconut oil - again for the health benefits.  And I used water instead of milk.

 I rolled the dough into balls using approximately 1 tsp per ball.  You could roll out the dough and cut it, but who has room for all that nonsense on a boat?

 Then I turned up the heat a little and dropped the dumplings into the almost-boiling pot.  They will float at first, and after a bit they start to sink.  That's my super-technical way to tell they are done.

 I finished it off with some half and half and a wee bit of butter, then added seasonings including thyme, salt, pepper and a smidge of cayenne and nutmeg.  Feel free to use whatever you have on board.

Mmmmm.  Warm, delicious and filling - and as a bonus, cooking warmed up the boat as well.

Next time I'll cover Tomato Bisque per Jessica's request!  Let me know if you have any other request, blog reading people.  If I don't know how to make it on a boat yet, it'll give me something to figure out.  Happy Tuesday!