Chickpea Dumpling Soup

 Hope you have had a wonderful week! I've been busy with clinicals which I'm really enjoying and this week was so much better than last.  My sweet friend Donna passed away last week which made for a rough week.  She was such a Godly woman, friendly, and so sweet.  I just loved her so much! I'm glad she's resting now but it's just sad to think that's she's gone.  Anyway, Stephen's been working so hard with the church and I know he's especially tired at the end of the week.  We have music practice tonight too so I prepared this soup today since I got off work early and it will be perfect for when we get home tonight.  It really doesn't take long to make either. 

I've always had this desire to have chicken dumpling soup, it just sounds so comforting and hearty.  But, I don't eat chicken! So when I saw this recipe on The Chew, I knew it would be the perfect substitution.  The dumplings were just like I thought they would be and I think this is a perfect soup! It takes about 30 minutes to prepare so it's great for a weeknight quick meal.  Hope you'll try it and let me know what you think!

Chickpea Dumpling Soup

Soup:
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
3 stalks celery
3 carrots
2 cans chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon Adobo seasoning (one of my favorite all-purpose seasonings, it gives great flavor!)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4-5 cups vegetable broth

Dumplings:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
A little sprinkling of Adobo seasoning
3/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)

1. Chop the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots and saute in olive oil or a little vegetable broth.  I have recently learned you can use broth instead of oil to saute, it really doesn't make a difference and cuts out the oil!

2. Add seasonings and chickpeas.  Saute another 2-3 minutes then add the broth and bring to a boil. 

3. Reduce the heat and let the vegetables cook until just tender (15 minutes).

4.  In the meantime, combine the ingredients for the dumplings.  First the dry ingredients, then the milk stirring until just combined. 

5.  Once the veggies are just cooked, spoon the dumpling batter into the soup in small teaspoons (I learned this the hard way last time making huge dumplings!) Let the soup simmer another 15 minutes.  I flipped the dumplings over about halfway through but I'm not sure it's necessary.  I'm not an expert with dumplings but I understand the cornmeal makes them not chewy... anyway, then it's done!

6.  Season with additional salt and pepper or whatever you think it needs! Hope you enjoy, I know we will!