Rec: Chicken soup without the soup
Poor Dawn! Looking at the picture, I am surprised that you only needed a new windshield.
My family loves chicken soup, I can take it or leave it. So I make this, which feeds a LOT of people, and where I can remove some soup for the soup lovers if they want. Although I have no personal experience of Chicken and Dumplings, I suspect this is a similar dish.
1 chicken (or 3-4 lbs of chicken pieces)
2 onions
2 potatoes
2 large carrots
Any other vegetables you have on hand, the more the merrier.
1 lb pasta
Water or stock (I use water, but I know many of you use stock to make chicken soup)
Bay leaf
Cut the chicken into as many pieces as you can. I separate the wing pieces, cut the thighs into two, cut the breasts into 3 or 4 pieces, cut the back into 2 pieces. You can use the neck, crop and heart, if you have them and if you like.
Put in a Large Pot. Add onions, salt and pepper to taste, and the bay leaf. Cover the chicken with water or stock, going at least an inch over the chicken. (If you are using chayote or pumpkin, put them in with the chicken now, diced.) Cover, bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is simmering, peel and dice the potatoes and peel and slice the carrots. Prepare your other vegetables. Green beans, summer squash, fresh ripe beans are all delicious, whatever you can find. Cooked dried beans also, if you have them left over.
After 30 minutes, add the vegetables and the pasta, and add salt to taste. Make sure that everything is barely covered with liquid. Replace the cover, bring back to the boil, simmer for 15 minutes. Stir to make sure all the pasta gets its turn in the liquid. Cook for another 15 minutes. Check that all the vegetables are cooked. There will probably be some soup available at this point. I serve my portion with a slotted spoon as I don't like mine wet. Any liquid left in the pots will be absorbed by the pasta as it cools. This reheats beautifully, and I like it cold as well. Serves at least 8.