Healthy (er) Chicken and Dumplings

Oh how I LOVE me some Pioneer Woman recipes. They are so delicious, but only something we eat sometimes at our house. I have been experimenting with adapting her recipes to make them a bit healthier without sacrificing too much of the taste.  This is her recipe for Chicken and Dumplings that I adapted to fit the way we eat:

(Note: my food photography needs some help)


 Ingredients:
olive oil (just enough to coat the pan)
1/2 cup whole wheat, soy flour,  or brown rice flour
1 lb of skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite sized pieces, fat trimmed)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced green peppers (traditional calls for celery, but peppers are more nutritious and I like the flavor)
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage

6 cups low sodium chicken brith
1/2 cup cup skim milk

Dumplings:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 heaping TBS baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 and 1/12 cup skim milk

Mix the flour with salt, pepper, and herbs.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and dredge the chicken through the flour mixture.

In a pot, add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Brown chicken on both sides. Remove and set aside.

In the same pot add the peppers, onions, and carrots. Cook for 3-4 minutes over medium heat.  At this point I sprinkled in more herbs and chicken broth.

Add the chicken, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. At this point, it did not look promising to me and I was getting worried...but it got better.

Now make the dumpling dough. Sift together all of the dry ingredients, then add the skim milk and stir to combine. When using wheat, soy, or brown rice flour I have found that I have to let it sit a bit longer than white flour so it can soak up the liquids. Set aside for about 10 minutes.

 (this picture is not skewed, one of my children named 'not me' stepped on it while trying to use it as a step stool...I don't know what goes through that child's head)

Remove the chicken from the pot and cut into bite sized pieces. Return it back to the pot with the skim milk and stir.  At this point is is not as thick as it would be if heavy cream were added, but it got thicker after the dumplings were added in.

Drop tablespoons of the dough into the pot while it simmers. Cover pot and cook an additional 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper as you wish.  Remove from heat and let it sit for 10 more minutes.

It turned out to be a hit.  The kids actually liked it. Let me know if you make it and how it turns out for you.