This past week, the common cold knocked me out for 9 straight days. All I did was lie down and blow my nose every 10 minutes. When I visited my doctor on day 4, she said 90% of the town has this virus. That figure seemed exceptionally high, however, I figured that if you’re sick like me, you probably want comfort food. I decided to make chicken soup with dumplings because can you throw everything into one pot, cook for 20 minutes, and you’ve got dinner. This quick recipe could have cured last week’s doldrums too, but it’s especially good when you’re sick.

I used to love eating soup with dumplings when I was sick as a kid. I still love eating dumplings now, don’t get me wrong, but I never make them. Maybe it’s because this recipe is so simple and unassuming. But what I found out, now that I’m an adult, is that the secret is really in the stock. A good homemade stock makes everything taste better.

I made a vegetable stock back in the fall when I had lots of ingredients at my disposal: carrots, celery, onions, garlic, parsley, and green onions. You heat oil in a large pot, then add the vegetables plus one bay leaf, and cook for 10 minutes on high. Add salt and water, turn heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes. Discard vegetables when done. I usually only need a little bit of stock at a time, so I pour the broth in ice cube trays, freeze in a ziplock bag, and then I can thaw out however much or little I need per recipe.

If you’re starting this recipe from making the stock, then this will take you about an hour. But if you’ve got stock on hand and leftover chicken like I did, then you’re looking at a quick and yummy recipe.

Homemade Chicken Soup and Dumplings 

Makes four servings

Total time: 25 minutes

In my basket:

2 cups diced Carrots (from Stearns Farm, Framingham MA)

2 cups diced Onions (from Stearns Farm, Framingham MA)

2 cups leftover, cooked Chicken breast (from Chestnut Farms, Hardwick MA)

2 cups homemade vegetable stock

From the pantry:

2 cups frozen Peas

2 1/4 cups Bisquick mix (makes 6-8 dumplings)

2 2/3 cup milk (I used almond milk to keep it diary-free)

Salt and pepper

1. Wash carrots. Large dice carrots and onions.
2. In a large soup pot over high heat, add carrots, onions, chicken, peas, stock and 2 cups of milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil.
3. While the soup boils, mix the Bisquick with 2/3 cup of milk, whisk to combine.
4. Carefully drop a spoonful of Bisquick mixture onto the boiling soup. Turn heat to low, and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Cover and cook for 10 more minutes.
5. Spoon soup and dumplings into a bowl, enjoy!

Alice Kathryn Richardson is a new media photojournalist and creator of The Clean Food Club. She previously spent two years working on Deserts in the District, a series of short-form documentaries exploring food access and hunger in Washington, DC. She is committed to supporting local and sustainable food businesses by telling their stories with photo and video. Follow her on Twitter @AKR_Pictures.