Posts Tagged ‘casserole’



Chicken and Broccoli Bake

Thursday, March 31st, 2011





Supper Time



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I’m sure this is your usual dinner table. Right? Yeah. Mine either!

Once in awhile I get a wild hair and just start experimenting. Like splashing paint randomly on a canvas, I’ll play a game of “pull out what you have, throw it together and pretend it’s good!!” Most of the time, the result is pretty successful, but once in awhile I’ll end up with a disaster like my ‘seafood casserole’ which has been the subject of really bad jokes for the past 10 years. Or at least I think they are bad. For some reason, at family get togethers, that meal always finds its way into the conversation. That casserole was big enough to feed our family of six and all the neighbors up the road and across the road. Unfortunately, the kids took one bite and asked when I had started combining WWII MREs for dinner. Actually, WWII MREs would have tasted better. Mr. Fix-It, always the gentleman, smiled through gritted teeth and pretended to chew. I gave the casserole to our Labrador, Toby, who is the canine equivalent of “He likes it! Heh, Mikey!” (The Life commercial, silly!) Toby sniffed the casserole and looked at me with those big, brown, soulful eyes that silently queried, “When did you start combining WWII MREs for dinner?” He didn’t eat it either.


Mr. Fix-It is my restaurant critic. No thumbs up from him or five stars. It’s number of helpings that determines the quality of my concoctions. One helping that is barely touched is a signal that failure is the operative word while two helpings is the, “Old gal, you did it!!”


Well, this was a ‘Mr. Fix-It Two Helping Recipe” and so I thought that I would share it with you. And please, if you don’t like it, don’t tell me. Just go buy a Labrador!


Chicken and Broccoli Casserole



  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup prepared country gravy mix. I use my Shawnee Mills mix at the shopping page
  • 12-15 fresh or frozen broccoli florets
  • 1/4 cup chopped onion
  • 1 tsp chopped garlic
  • 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (we like lots of mushrooms. You can reduce to 1 cup
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • Turmeric Rice (Recipe below)


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    Salt and pepper chicken breasts and brown in 2 tbsp olive oil


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    Place chicken in a baking dish. Lay broccoli around and on top of the chicken breasts


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    In the same skillet of drippings, sauté onions and garlic until just clear.


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    Add mushrooms and cook until tender and browned


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    Add prepared gravy mix. I like using the mix because it is lower in calories and fat, but you can make a white gravy mix from scratch, in a saucepan, using equal amounts of melted butter (or other fat) and flour, adding milk a little at a time and stirring until gravy is thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.


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    And stir until everything is incorporated


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    Pour mushroom sauce over the chicken and broccoli and spread to cover and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the sauce


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    Cover and bake in 350º oven for 30 – 45 minutes until brown and bubbly


    Turmeric Rice


  • 1 cup long grain rice
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tsp granulated chicken bouillon
  • ½ tsp turmeric


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    In a large saucepan add bouillon to water and add turmeric


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    Bring water to a boil and add rice. Cover, reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes


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    Toss rice and cover to let stand for 5 minutes.


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    Serve one breast and broccoli with sauce per person. And of course, you’ve gotta have that homemade whole wheat bread!


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    If you have leftovers, pop them into plastic trays, wrap with foil, label and freeze and you have your own ‘TV Dinners’. This is one chicken breast split into two dinners! Can we say, “Lunch?”





    Happy Cooking!



    MB
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