Sunday Night Vegetable and Dumpling Soup

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Vegetable and Dumpling Soup

Rachel Artus | April 24, 2020

• prep time: 15 minutes
• cook time: 45 minutes
• total time: 1 hour
• servings: 8-10

Ingredients:

1-2 tablespoon olive oil, or other plant-based cooking oil
1 medium yellow onion
2-3 medium carrots
4 celery stalks
1 small clove garlic, minced
1-2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
1 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
2 teaspoon Kosher salt (or to taste)
Splash white wine (optional)
3 quarts chicken (or vegetable) stock
1 cup water
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
Pinch cumin
Pinch dried thyme
Pinch saffron
Squeeze of lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Place stockpot on burner over medium heat. Once the bottom of the stockpot is hot, add olive oil and diced onions.
   
   
2. Once onions are translucent in color, add minced garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper and a splash of white wine (optional to deglaze the bottom of the saucepan). Allow white wine to cook down, then add diced carrots, celery, and potatoes and sauté until soft.
   
   
3. When vegetables reach desired consistency, add stock and water. Add remaining herbs and spices and bring broth to a low boil for 20-30 minutes. While broth is boiling, prepare your starch. I’ve included the recipes for homemade dumplings and Basmati rice.

To make dumplings:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 large egg (or 2 medium)
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¾ cup water

Combine and whisk dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then stir in eggs one by one. Add water ¼ cup at a time until dumpling dough reaches a sticky consistency and creates stretchy strands when pulled. Add more flour or water as needed.

Dip a metal spoon into the broth and then use the hot spoon to cut through the dough. Scoop small balls about the size of 1 Tablespoon, then drop them into the broth. Bring broth to a simmer for about 5 minutes to allow dumpling dough to cook thoroughly. Serve hot.

To make rice:

• 1 cup basmati rice (exchange for ½ pound pasta or egg noodle)
• 2 cups water
• Pinch of salt

Measure one cup of rice and rinse 2-3 times in cold water. Once rice water is not cloudy, drain and add 2 cups fresh water to the rice. Salt and bring to boil.

Once the rice reaches a boil, turn off the burner, cover with lid and set timer for 20-25 mins. Do not remove lid until time is up and fluff with fork when finished. If adding noodles, boil separately and add as needed.

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If you know me, you know that vegetable soup with some kind of delicious carbohydrate is my favorite meal on a cold day. I make soup in the summer too, but pretty much the only reason I look forward to winter is because it means I can make copious amounts of soup without second thought. The smell of mirepoix (onion, celery, and carrot) cooking in olive oil might just be my favorite perfume.

So, let’s talk carbs. My go-to choice is Basmati rice, clearly. However, my mom—who has strong Austrian roots—requests egg noodles or homemade dumplings whenever I make this at home (both of which are easier to make than rice, so I’m not complaining). These dumplings take 5 minutes to make and cook in the broth. How easy is that?

I’ve been pretty much plant-based since fall of 2019 (with exceptions). I’ll use chicken broth, but I haven’t been adding chicken meat to my soups, just because I’m not feelin’ it lately. If you do add chicken however, rotisserie chickens from the grocery store are the way. to. go. They add SO much extra flavor and the meat is already perfectly cooked.

If adding rotisserie chicken:

• Hold off on adding your seasonings until after the chicken meat has simmered in the broth for 20-25 minutes. There is so much flavor (and sodium) already in the meat, so you may not need to add all of the spices in the ingredient list above. Give it a taste and then season it to your liking!

• Place it directly in the refrigerator in its store-bought container after purchasing. Wait 1-2 hours, as breaking down the chicken is 10x easier with cold meat. You can add the white meat to broth and save the flavorful skin and carcass to make homemade broth for next time. Check out my Stock&Soup highlight on Instagram for step-by-step instructions for making homemade broth!