Tag: casserole

Personally Speaking

I Love Broccoli

Katherine

Quinoa, I hear people raving about it everywhere and now I finally decided to try and make something with it. I actually settled on a casserole since they are pretty hard to mess up and I will be honest the quinoa didn't have to carry the whole thing.

Since I love broccoli chicken casserole I decided to base the recipe off of that. And here is what I came up with:

The Ingredients (Standard stuff)

  • 2 cups of chicken broth
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • ½ cup flour (all-pupose)
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • Seasonings:
    • garlic powder
    • black pepper
    • red pepper flakes
    • salt
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
    • Everyone has told me this is important and it said to do it on the package so I did my best. It is really hard and this was actually the first minus point I gave the product
  • 1 lb chicken breasts
    • I lightly grilled the chicken breast in oil since I thought that the quinoa would get soggy if left to cook until the chicken was done. This turned out to not be the case.
  • ¼ cup shredded gruyere cheese
  • 3 cups broccoli florets
    • I used a large head of broccoli

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease 9×13” baking pan with cooking spray.
  2. In a saucepan, bring broth and ½ cup almond milk to a boil.
    1. While waiting for mixture to boil, whisk together ½ cup flour and the remaining milk in a small bowl to make a cream base.
    2. Add mix along with 1 tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp salt, and pinch red pepper flakes into boiling pot.
    3. Whisk until smooth and creamy.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine broth mixture with quinoa and 1 cup of water. Pour into prepared baking dish.
  4. Cut chicken length-wise into 2”-thick strips and place on top of quinoa mixture in pan. Add pinch of salt and pepper over chicken then bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
  5. While casserole is baking, steam broccoli about 3-4 minutes, or until just slightly soft – you still want them to be a little crisp so they don’t get soggy once you add them to the casserole.
  6. After casserole has baked for 30 minutes, check to see if chicken is cooked through and the quinoa has puffed out. If either are still undercooked, return casserole to oven for another 5-10 minutes.
  7. Once quinoa and chicken are cooked, stir in steamed broccoli along with ½ cup of water. Top with cheese and bake another 5 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and the sauce has thickened.
  8. Remove from oven and let it sit for about fifteen minutes before you serve
  9. Enjoy!

I think it was a hit, but I will probably not make it again anytime soon. My expereince with the quinoa was, well, lacking.

Personally Speaking

A Summer Time Treat

Katherine
I think that there are certain foods that are best eaten at a certain time of the year. I love casseroles and I think that they taste the best in the fall and winter. But there is one special casserole that I make every 4th of July and on family picnics.

My Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

There is just something about a chicken bacon ranch casserole that just fits. My family will agree with me. And so you have a chance to test it with your family I am going to share the recipe with you so you can give it a try.

A Few Ingredients

This makes 8 servings
  • 4 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 8 oz. freshly shredded cheddar cheese
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
    • It helps to pull the cream cheese out of the refrigerator ahead of time so that it can soften.
  • 12 slices of thick cut bacon
  • 1.5 lbs of fresh mushrooms
  • ½ packet of ranch seasoning (4 tsp)
  • Fresh cracked pepper is a requirement, don’t skip this part

A Couple of Directions to Follow

  1. Start by baking the bacon.
    • Line a pan with aluminum foil and place the bacon on it.
    • Cook for 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees.
    • Cooking times may vary depending upon the thickness of the bacon.
    • The foil lined pan makes cleanup easy and very easy to save your grease, which is great for cooking.
  2. Chop up the chicken into bite sized pieces.
    • Add bacon grease (or olive oil, butter, whatever) to a pan on medium and toss the chicken in.
    • Season with the ranch packet.
    • You want to make sure to cook the chicken mostly all the way through.
  3. While the chicken is cooking wash and slice up your mushrooms.
  4. When the chicken is finished remove it from the pan and cook the mushrooms.
    • Season these if you want with a little salt and pepper.
    • Cook them until they get to the consistency that you prefer.
  5. Add the finished ingredients to a large greased (makes cleanup easy) casserole dish.
  6. When the bacon is finished chop it up into bite sized pieces and add all of the ingredients to the casserole dish, including the cheese, and mix thoroughly.
    • Important: top with fresh cracked black pepper!!
  7. Set your oven to 350 degrees and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Cook for 30 minutes covered and then 10-15 minutes uncovered.
  8. Let the casserole sit for about 15 minutes before serving it.

Note

My mother makes this (I actually found the recipe) and she has made some changes to the base. I don’t like them but my husband will gobble both up without thinking twice so I will share her changes with you as well:

Ingredients and Directions

  • 1/2 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 1/2 packet of Ranch Dip Seasoning (just used the half that I didn’t put with the chicken)
  • Mix together and pour over mixture before baking