Chicken and Dumplings with Vegetables

Directions

Finely dice the onion, carrots, and celery. Add them all to a large soup pot with the olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Remove the skin from the split chicken breasts and then add the breasts and chicken broth to the pot. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow it to come to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer for 30 minutes. While the soup is simmering, prepare the dumplings. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder, and stir until evenly combined. Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture until there are no large lumps of butter left. Pour the milk into the dumpling mix and stir until a sticky ball of dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough 5 or 6 times, or until it is no longer sticky. Let the dough rest for about 5 minutes. Roll the dough out until it's about 1/8" thick, adding flour as needed to keep it from sticking, then use a pizza cutter or knife to cut it into 1x2" rectangles. Place the cut dumplings back in the bowl until you're ready to use them. Make sure they're dusted with a light coating of flour to keep them from sticking to one another. After the chicken breasts have simmered for 30 minutes, remove them to a cutting board. Let them cool slightly, then use two forks to remove the meat from the bone and shred it into bite-sized chunks. While the chicken is out of the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high and wait until it returns to a boil. Once boiling, drop in the dumplings, one by one. Let them boil in the soup, stirring occasionally, until they're all floating . In a separate small bowl, whisk together the 1 cup of milk and 2 Tbsp flour. Pour the mixture into the soup. Stir and cook the soup until it returns to a simmer, at which point it will thicken slightly. Finally, return the shredded chicken to the thickened soup, along with the frozen peas, and chopped parsley. Turn the heat off, give it a taste, and add salt or pepper if needed. Serve hot.