Lunch: Budget-Friendly Vegetable Stew with Whole Wheat Dumplings

What's better during the fall than a warm, tasty soup? This budget-friendly recipe is fairly easy.

This recipe includes superfoods such as:

Kale

Health benefits of Budget-Friendly Vegetable Stew with Whole Wheat Dumplings

Kale is an excellent source of calcium, which has an important role in egg maturation and follicle development in the ovaries.

Ingredients

Stew
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 fennel bulb, diced
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 cups diced butternut squash
1 teaspoon ground sage
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
4 cups chopped kale (1 bunch, stemmed and chopped)

Dumplings
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon herbs d’provence (or dried sage)
1 large egg
½ cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
½ cup water

Instructions

Add oil to a large soup pot over medium-high heat.
Add fennel, onion and celery to oil and sauté until onions turn clear (around 4-5 minutes). Add butternut squash, sage, chicken broth, water, salt (optional), black pepper and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
Simmer stew for 20 minutes, then add kale and simmer 10 more minutes.
While stew is simmering, whisk together all dumpling ingredients to form a stiff batter. Set aside.
After kale simmers for 10 minutes remove bay leaf.
Use a ¼ cup measure to scoop dumplings on top of stew to make 8 dumplings. Do not stir once dumplings have been added to the top of the stew. Cover and reduce to a low simmer for 10 minutes until dumplings are cooked through and puffed.

Recipe Cost: $10.40

Side Suggestion: Serve with a green salad with low fat honey mustard dressing.