This is a southern comfort food dish that some say came straight out of the Great Depression as a way to stretch a little bit of chicken to feed a big family. Flour and fat are combined to form a dumpling (such a sweet name for such an insidious food, don’t you think?) that is then is cooked in broth. In real life, those sweet little dumplings are calorie bombs that call for a healthier version—like this one.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch

　　1 1/2 cups low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth

　　1 cup whole milk

　　3 large celery stalks, sliced thin on the diagonal

　　1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin

　　Salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　2 cups shredded skinless breast meat from a rotisserie or roast chicken

　　2/3 cup Bisquick Heart Smart baking mix

　　1/3 cup buttermilk

　　1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

　　

Step 1

Place the cornstarch in a medium bowl, and whisk in the chicken broth and milk. Pour the mixture into a large saucepan or Dutch oven and bring it to a boil, whisking constantly. Add the celery and onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and return to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just tender, about 10 minutes.

　　

Step 2

Stir the chicken into the vegetable mixture, and raise the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and bring to a steady simmer.

　　

Step 3

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir the baking mix and buttermilk together until the mixture just forms a soft dough.

　　

Step 4

Drop 12 spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture into the pot, spacing the dumplings out as much as possible. Cover, and simmer until the dumplings are just cooked through, about 7 minutes.

　　

Step 5

Sprinkle the parsley over the dumplings. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Ladle into soup bowls and serve.

　　

nutrition information

Step 6

Fat: 49.3g (before), 6g (after)

　　

Step 7

Calories: 845 (before), 269 (after)

　　

Step 8

Protein: 28g

　　

Step 9

Carbohydrates: 24g

　　

Step 10

Cholesterol: 66mg

　　

Step 11

Fiber: 1g

　　

Step 12

Sodium: 738mg

　　Now Eat This by Rocco DiSpirito. Copyright © 2010 by Rocco DiSpirito. Published by Random House Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Hailed as the "Leading Chef of his Generation" by Gourmet magazine, Rocco DiSpirito received the James Beard Award for his first cookbook, Flavor. He went on to author Rocco's Italian-American (2004), Rocco's Five Minute Flavor (2005), Rocco's Real-Life Recipes (2007), and Rocco Gets Real (2009). DiSpirito also starred in the Food Network series Melting Pot, the NBC hit reality series The Restaurant, and the A&E series Rocco Gets Real.