Peas-and-Carrots Soup with Dumplings

We tried a new soup from the new Rachel Ray magazine. It was totallly different from the soups that we normally make, but that is what made it so good. That and the fact that all the ingredients are things we always have in our fridge. It will end up being one of those "go-to" meals that you can have when you need to clean the fridge out.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 T extra virgin olive oil

3 T butter

3 Carrots - peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (we chopped instead so that Gabes could eat it)

1 rib celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

Salt & Pepper

1 Fresh Bay leaf (we had frozen so I used that)

2 rounded tablespoons flour

1 32 ounce container chicken or vegetable stock

1 rounded tablespoon dijion mustard

1 C frozen peas

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon, dill or parsley (we used parsley)

1 8-ounce box biscuit mix (we used Jiffy Buttermilk Biscuit mix)

1. Heat a couple of tablespoons of the olive oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven. Add the butter to melt, then add the carrots, celery and onion; season with salt, pepper and the bay leaf. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally until the carrots soften, 7-8 minutes.

2. Sprinkle the flour on the vegetables and stir for a minute, then whisk in the chicken (or vegetable) stock until thickened. Stir in the mustard and peas. For a thinner soup, add 1 c water with the stock.

3. Add the chopped fresh herbs to the biscuit batter and combine. When the soup is bubbling, form the batter into small dumplings using 2 spoons, then drop onto the surface of the soup. Cover the pot and cook the dumplings, gently stirring, until firm, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to bowls and discard bay leaf. Serve.

** This doesn't call for any meat, but you could add chicken to it easily. Even without adding chicken, the soup tastes identical to a chicken pot pie. Yummy!