Have I ever mentioned that I used to be quite large? My mom will inevitably get angry at me for writing this and will follow up with a phone call explaining how my body simply matched my "larger than life" personality.
She's my mom. She has to say that. And now that I think about it, I don't even see that as much of a compliment, anyway.
So when I was a freshman in high school, I started a less-intense version of the Atkins diet. It involved a lot of chicken, a lot of broccoli, and a lot of cheese. Mom came up with a broccoli chicken bake that I ate at least once a day. Keep in mind, this is before Atkins was trendy and there were all those fancy schmany "no-carb chocolate bars."
Psshh.
About 25 lbs later, I embraced bread again and have re-made this broccoli chicken bake. It still has the broccoli. It still has the chicken. And it still has the cheese. We've simply thrown in some bread and butter.
Because life without bread and butter is simply no life at all.
Ingredients:
- 1 bag frozen broccoli
- 2 slices of sourdough bread broken into small pieces
- 2 cooked chicken breasts
- Garlic salt/pepper
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons of melted butter
- 1 can cream of broccoli soup
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Steam the broccoli until tender and place in a 8 x 8 x 1 1/2 in. glass pan
- Cut up thawed chicken and cook on the stove over medium/high heat
- Add the juice of the lemon
- Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt and pepper
- Place cooked chicken on top of broccoli
- Mix the milk and soup in a separate bowl
- Pour mixture over chicken and broccoli
- Sprinkle with cheddar cheese
- Drizzle melted butter over bread crumbs in a separate bowl
- Spread bread crumbs on top of broccoli/chicken/soup mixture/cheese
- Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes or until the top is browned. Remember...every oven is different. Keep an eye on it.
Guys, you would not believe how great this stuff smells. When you pull it out of the oven and get that first big whiff, it's like you walked into a Panera that only serves broccoli cheese soup.
I wish there were such a place.
Have a beautiful day, readers! And please, for heaven's sake...
...make this!
Love,
Rachael