"Everything-free" Tuscan Soup

I have a wonderful recipe for Zuppa Toscana (Tuscan Soup) that I got from a friend some years ago. It is truly delicious. Unfortunately, when you take out all of the things I can no longer eat (potatoes, cream, onions, garlic) there is not much left: broth, meat and kale. Doesn't that sound delicious? Um...no.

For the past several years, I have been working on a version of this soup that would fit my new food world. I have hit on a satisfactory result a few times...only to find out that yet another food had started bothering me, so back to the drawing board. Or chopping board... ;-)

This is the version I am currently using. In fact, I just finished making a batch for my lunch today.

It is creamy and hearty, just right for a cold Winter day.

"Everything-free" Tuscan Soup
dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, nightshade-free
Serves 4
Total time: about an hour

1/2 pound each gluten-free bacon and mild Italian sausage- chop bacon into bite-sized chunks
    (I buy a pound of each, cook it all & save half to freeze for the next time I make soup)
1 quart chicken stock or broth
    (I usually use reduced-sodium, so I can control the overall saltiness. The meats tend to be very salty, which make can the soup far too salty if you also use full-sodium stock)
3-4 "white" sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
    (These can be hard to find in some places; then I use standard orange sweet potatoes/yams)
(1/4 teaspoon dried minced onion- if you can tolerate it)
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme 
Several large leaves of kale, thoroughly washed, ribs cut out, leaves roughly chopped
1 (13.5 fl.oz.) can thick coconut milk (I use Native Forest brand)
Salt and black pepper to taste- I use roughly 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, added at the end

While the meats are cooking, I prepare the sweet potatoes and gather the other ingredients.

In a large soup pot, over medium to medium-high heat, cook sausage, stirring often, until cooked through. Remove to a bowl lined with paper towels, to drain off grease. Add chopped bacon pieces to pot. Keep at medium to medium-high until a few pieces start to brown, then turn down to medium-low. Stir often to avoid burning. When the bacon is mostly cooked (the fat has mostly rendered out and most of the pieces are browning) remove to a paper towel-lined bowl to drain grease. Pour the rest of the grease into a heat-proof container. (Don't pour it straight into the trash. The hot grease will melt a plastic garbage bag- voice of unfortunate, absent-minded experience!)

Add the quart of chicken stock to the pot, along with the sweet potato chunks, dried onion and thyme. Cover, bring to a boil, then turn down to a strong simmer. While waiting, prepare the kale. Check soup after 15 minutes. The sweet potatoes should be tender, but not falling apart. When ready, add meats back to the pot, along with the chopped kale. Add the can of coconut milk. As soon as the coconut milk is fully melted and stirred in, check the broth for flavor. Add salt and pepper if needed.The seasoning of sausage can vary widely, so it's good to wait until the end to finish seasoning. Cook for just a few minutes, until the kale just begins to soften.

Everything-free Chicken and Dumplings

You guys.

You. Guys.

For real.

Chicken and Dumplings...gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nightshade-free... all of the things.

I have been working on this for months. As in..the first version I tried was February 24. This is January 10. I have labored on this one! It needed to be right.

*** And then, when I was less tired, I read over this recipe again, and noticed some glaring mistakes that must be fixed and some amounts that I needed to refine. So...updated version...March 9, 2020.**

It's chilly and dark out, and I feel like I've just been listening to rain for days and days. It made it all feel better and more cozy, puttering around my little kitchen, cooking up a batch of comfort food.

I cooked late tonight, because tomorrow is a travel day and I will not want to cook dinner at the end of it. I roasted some broccoli, and I made my newest version of chicken and dumplings. And it is so good. The soup is creamy and flavorful, and the dumplings are light and delicious.

I will put a picture in here, but this is from an earlier version. I have a picture of tonight's batch, and I will add it later. It's on my phone. The blog is on my computer. I'm not that fancy. Right now, I just want to share this recipe! The batch in the picture was a more "brothy" soup. The final version is creamy and golden. Still, this will do for now.

 "Everything-free Chicken & Dumplings"
Serves 4 (or 2, with leftovers, which is how we roll)
Total time- about an hour

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts-1 package (usually around 1 to 1 1/4 pounds)
Lay pieces on a plate and season well on both sides with salt and pepper. Let rest while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

*You will want to have everything ready before you start cooking. Those veggies can burn fast, while you're rummaging for the carton of stock! Voice of burnt-soup experience here!*

Olive oil - about 1/4 cup total
Carrots - two or three medium carrots, peeled and cubed = 1 1/2 cup
Celery - finely chopped = 1/2 cup
Fresh thyme - leaves stripped from the stems and slightly chopped = 1 Tablespoon
     **trust me, you want to use fresh thyme rather than dried, if you possibly can! I've used dried, several times, and it's not nearly as flavorful.**
Chicken broth/stock - about a quart
1 (13.5 ounce) can thick coconut milk (I use Native Forest brand)
Gluten-free flour - about 1/3 cup (I use half millet flour, half tapioca starch- 3 Tablespoons of each)
     **I tried arrowroot starch, but it loses its thickening capacity when heated- tapioca starch it is!
Salt and black pepper
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*Gluten-free flour mixture for soup:
3 Tablespoons millet flour
3 Tablespoons tapioca starch
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper



Mix up dumpling dough while the chicken and veggies are having their turns to cook. Letting the dough rest before using lets the baking powder start to work, giving you lighter dumplings. (ingredients for dumplings listed below) 

Lay the chicken on a plate, season both sides, set aside. Chop veggies, prepare seasoned flour, prepare the fresh thyme and get out the other seasonings, stock and coconut milk.

When all your ingredients are assembled and ready, heat 2 Tablespoons  of olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high/high heat. Add chicken pieces, moving around a few times, to help prevent sticking. Sear on both sides, just until the outer part changes color (turns from pink to white, with maybe a few spots of browning). The inside will still be completely raw. This is what you want. Trust me. Remove chicken and save for later. [While the chicken is cooking, start making the dumpling dough]

Reduce heat to medium/medium- high and add 2 Tablespoons more olive oil to the pan. Let heat briefly, then add carrots, celery and thyme. Cook, stirring a few times, for a minute or two. [Work on dumpling dough while they cook.]

Reduce heat to medium/medium-low. Add flour mixture and other seasonings, and stir well. Cook, stirring frequently, for a couple of minutes.

Be very careful with the first addition of stock. Steam will come boiling out of the pan and it's easy to get your hand or arm scalded.
 
Slowly add about 1 cup of chicken stock, stirring until completely absorbed. Add the rest of the stock, about one cup at a time, stirring the whole time and scraping the bottom to get all the flavor bits loose.

Add coconut cream. Let heat and thicken for several minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan from time to time, to prevent sticking and burning. The consistency should become creamy and slightly thick. Taste for seasoning. Add more salt if needed. Do this now- you don't want to be tasting it once you've added back the mostly-raw chicken!

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to soup. Bring to a simmer, stirring often, and add dumplings. I use a spoon or fork to scoop up globs of dumpling dough about the size of a walnut/golf ball... about two or three tablespoons of dough at a time. Drop the pieces of dough gently onto the surface of the soup.

Cover and cook on low or medium-low heat for 20 minutes. Do not lift the lid! The dumplings cook by steaming. If you take the lid off, it slows the cooking and makes the dumplings heavy and dense.

On our stove (gas stove in a travel trailer), the low setting is equivalent to medium-low on our previous stoves (electric, glass top). Use the lowest setting on your stove that will maintain a gentle simmer. The low side of medium-low should be right for other stoves. If the heat is too high, the soup will scorch before the dumplings are done. Lower the heat and be willing to wait for it. :)


After twenty minutes, remove pan from the heat and let sit for five minutes or so.

I scoop the dumplings into a serving bowl, using a slotted spoon. I ladle soup from into bowls, then add two or three dumplings to each serving.

Herb Dumplings (gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free)

1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
3/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
--------
2/3 cup shortening (I use Spectrum palm kernel oil shortening. Earth Balance sticks or something similar would also work.)
1 teaspoon buttery-flavored coconut oil 
    (even this small amount makes a difference to taste and texture)
    (this won't always cut-in nicely with the shortening, so I often melt it and stir it in after the Spectrum is all cut in. If melted coconut oil is added to cold milk, the oil will turn to hard clumps.)

   
-------
3/4 cup milk alternative (I use SoDelicious or Silk unsweetened original coconut milk beverage)
  
Whisk together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until no large clumps remain. Sprinkle in melted coconut oil and stir briefly with a fork. Stir in milk with a fork until well combined. Let dough rest until needed.


If making the dough mid-soup is stressful or chaos-inducing for you, mix it up before you start cooking the soup and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel until it's needed.

Either way, letting the dough rest before using it makes a difference. "Double-acting" baking powder is activated by two things: liquid and heat. It first starts to work in reaction to the liquids in the dough. It's activity is boosted by the heat of steaming. Giving the baking powder a chance to start doing its thing before the dough goes onto the soup gives you lighter-textured dumplings.