Nana's Chick'n and Sliders

My maternal grandmother and I were very close.  I lived with her on and off throughout my childhood, and some of my favorite memories involve spending time with her and my Mom.  Toll painting, baking Christmas goodies, canning mountains upon mountains of produce- these are some of my favorite memories from  my childhood.

We lived in Mennonite country, and my grandmother worked for this Mennonite family delivering the mini-barns they made, so there was always fresh organic produce from their small family farms at her house.  I vividly remember canning peaches one day, and being absolutely horrified when I found a worm inside one of the peaches I was peeling.  My Nana was completely unfazed.  "Oh, it's just a worm.  Cut around it", she said, and though I did, I secretly marked the batch of canned peach preserves that peach went into so I wouldn't accidentally eat worm-peach.  (I was a squeamish sort as a kid.)  

I have other food memories revolving around my grandmother, too.  Because both of my parents worked, I got dropped off at Nana's when I was sick.  She'd give me Vernors, and on occasion, she'd make me my favorite of all her dishes- chicken and sliders.  

Where I'm from, sliders are flat little rolled and sliced dumplings in chicken broth.  I'd never heard the term "sliders" used for mini-burgers until Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle came out.  As far as comfort food goes, they're still my favorite.  I've since veganized the recipe (and added some vegetables to make it at least semi-healthy), and I think Nana would approve.  

Note: This recipe makes a lot.  That's okay, though, because this dish tastes better the next day!

Nana's chick'n and sliders

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces PC Blue Menu meatless chicken breasts, gardein chick'n scallopine, or chick'n flavor seitan, or 2 cans chickpeas
• 6 cubes veggie boullion (vegetarian chicken style if you can find it) mixed with 4 cups boiling water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp flour mixed with 1/4 c water to make a slurry

For the dumplings:

• 3 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp rosemary
• 1 c cooled veggie broth (I mix up a cube of veggie boullion with 1 cup boiling water and then pop it in the fridge until cooled)
• 1 flax egg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place chick'n on foil lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, flipping them around 15 minutes.  When they're done, take them out of the oven, chop roughly, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, saute the onion, carrot, and celery in the oil in a big soup pot until fragrant.  Add the garlic, thyme, rosemaery and black pepper and cook for another minute.  Add the veggie boullion and stir, then bring to a boil.
3. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, thyme, and rosemary.  Add in the flax egg and the veggie broth and mix until a slightly sticky dough is formed.  (If your dough is too dry, add water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together and is slightly sticky.)  Roll out on a floured surface and cut into 2-3 inch squares.  They don't need to be perfect.  Drop them in the boiling broth, one at a time, stirring after each addition so the sliders don't stick to the pot or each other.  Boil, uncovered, for 15 minutes.  Add the flour slurry and the chick'n, and then cook for another 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, let it sit for 15 minutes to cool, and enjoy!

What was your favorite comfort food when you were sick?