First stop: Chicken and Gnocchi Dumplings

Who loves a weight loss journey???  

The answer is simple.  ONLY the people on the outside looking in, at first.  After a little bit, it becomes more fun for the ones that are actually living the journey.  With that being said, my fiancée (here on out known as my King) and I are going to start working on cooking and eating healthier together.  Future posts are going to feature healthier versions of items we love to eat or love to cook.  Now I’m certainly not saying that we won’t indulge here and there, and know that I will share those recipes with you as well, but there will be a conscious effort of sharing healthier recipes with you.  We’re looking at it as another way to be held accountable on our journey. 

The first stop on our journey is Chicken and Gnocchi Dumplings.  I found this recipe here, and feel free to check it out to see all of the nutritional facts.  It’s from Cooking Light, and I must say that it did end up being quite healthy.  

In all honesty, I do love finding time on Sundays to cook for us, and also to photograph in daylight.  Natural light is just perfect for everything.  The flavors were great in this recipe, and we were really surprised at how amazing the mini gnocchi worked as “dumplings”.  I’m thinking they will be our dumplings from here on out.  However, my King makes some amazing chicken and dumplings from scratch…like inspiringly delicious.

This is a great recipe for our cooler months being upon us, and I hope that you’ll give it a try.  Also, check out our new kick ass dishes.  Skulls and crowns!  I’m in love!

Enjoy!

Chicken and Gnocchi Dumplings

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces 
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided 
• 1 1/2 cups chopped red onion (I used some frozen chopped onion I had prepared a while back.)
• 1 cup chopped celery 
• 1 cup chopped carrot (I used a pea and carrot frozen combo bag and put these in when the peas went in.  They were a little crunchier than I would have liked, but they were still soft enough.)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary  (I used dried rosemary.)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme  (Thyme was not on my side today…didn’t use any.)
• 5 cups unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson), divided 
• 8 ounces whole-wheat gnocchi (My grocery store only had regular mini-gnocchi, and I think it probably worked better.)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I prefer to thicken with cornstarch, so I used cornstarch for this step.)
• 1 cup frozen green peas (See note on carrots above.)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Step 1

• Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add chicken to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from pan.

Step 2

• Add onion, celery, carrot, rosemary, and thyme to pan; cook 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add 4 cups stock, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes. Add gnocchi to pan; cook 3 minutes or until gnocchi float to the surface.

Step 3

• Combine remaining 1 cup stock and flour in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Slowly add stock mixture to pan, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in chicken and peas; cook 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.