Vegetable Stew with Cheddar Dumplings

My mom saw this recipe in the paper and thought it would be a good recipe because the slow cooker is one of my favorite things to use to cook. This recipe is done in a 4-5.5 quart slow cooker and will serve 4-6 people.

Recipe: Published in the Akron Beacon Journal in January 2014.

Ingredients: 
Stew
-2 1/3 cups, no salt-added canned diced tomatoes
-1 1/4 pounds cauliflower, trimmed and cut into small florets
-3/4 pounds zucchini, diced
-6 oz.  green beans, chopped
-1 medium onion, chopped
-2/3 cup vegetable broth
-1/2 tablespoon, dried basil
-1/2 tablespoon, dried oregano
-1/2 teaspoon salt

Dumplings
-1 1/3 cups flour
-3/4 teaspoon baking powder
-3/4 mustard powder
-1/2 tsp. salt
-3 tablespoons, very cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
-1/3 cup cheddar cheese
-1/2 cup milk

Combine tomatoes, cauliflower, zucchini, green beans, onion, broth, basil, oregano and salt in a slow cooker.
Cook on low for 5 hours. 

Once the vegetables are tender, prepare the dumplings.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, mustard and salt.

Add in the butter using a fork to work the butter though the dry mixture until it resembles coarse sand.

Add in the milk and cheese.

Spoon tablespoon sized dumplings into the slow cooker, making sure half of the dumpling is submerged.
Cook for 1 hour or until the dumplings are set. 

I was a little disappointed in this stew, I thought it was a little under seasoned. I think it needed more salt and some pepper added to it as well. Maybe even a little cayenne seasoning for a little heat. I thought the dumplings were the best part, they were moist and the flavors went well with the stew. I scooped all of the dumplings out of the stew and kept them separate from the leftovers in order to prevent them from getting too soggy.