Food: Dumpling Soup To Fight a Cold

This is the time of year when it's pretty easy to catch a cold with the swing in temperatures and particularly if you're flying for the holidays. I love airplanes and travelling, but not the germs the cabin air spreads. I caught a cold after flying for Thanksgiving weekend and my poor husband caught the cold from me. I wanted to make him soup to help him feel better (and to soothe my guilt for spreading my germs to him) but the typical chicken noodle soup from a can has so much sodium and preservatives and is so boring. I wanted something that would soothe his cold, tasted great, and didn't include sodium or preservatives. My solution was dumpling soup! This recipe is super easy and the broth from the soup soothes a scratchy throat and the little spicyness helps clear out the sinuses. I made it for my husband last night and it was a big hit!

The recipe uses frozen dumplings from Big Bowl. They have vegetable dumplings or chicken dumplings. The dumplings are filled with bok choy, cabbage, carrots, bamboo shoots and peanuts. You can buy them in the frozen food section at your local specialty grocery store or directly from Big Bowl.  

Recipe for Dumpling Soup



Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

• 6 Big Bowl Frozen Dumplings
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• Salt
• 4 oz. of whole wheat fusilli pasta
• 1 small can of corn
• 1 carrot peeled, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• Sriracha Sauce (optional)
• Soy Sauce (optional)
• green onions, diced (optional)

Directions:

1. Steam the frozen dumplings for about 10 minutes until they are warm but still hold their shape.
2. Bring the chicken broth, water and a pinch of salt to a rapid boil in a large saucepan.
3. Boil the pasta, corn, carrot and celery until the pasta is al dente (about 10 minutes) in the chicken broth solution.
4. Ladle the soup into bowls and place 3 steamed dumplings on top.
5. Add a touch of sriracha sauce for spicyness and soy sauce for a little saltiness to help bring out the flavors.
6. Top off with green onions.
7. Enjoy and feel better!



Dumpling Soup