Recipes

[Carol1229]

I don't often make casseroles.....and I don't know why that is. We really enjoy them.....I just never think about making them.

I had 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts thawed just waiting for a new recipe to use them in.....but what? I wanted a recipe that was going to use up what I had for fresh vegetables in the refrigerator before we head out on vacation. I had broccoli, but I didn't feel like making the Chinese chicken and broccoli that I know is delicious-I wanted something new. Something......comforting.......something.......with maybe a little pasta?

I was crunched for time so off I went to my Pinterest boards to see if I had something to fit the bill pinned. Sure enough, there it was, the ideal recipe to use all the ingredients I wanted to use....and even better? It was going to fit right in to the light cooking I've been doing.

I wasn't worried about how much chicken was going into the casserole...I was going to use what I had waiting to cook. If I don't have already cooked chicken to use in recipes like this, I like to heavily season the chicken I'm cooking on both sides and do a quick sear in a hot skillet, then poach it in some broth when I make casseroles like this. I then use the broth that I cooked the chicken in in the recipe to add another depth of flavor since some of the seasoning that is on the chicken goes into the broth. That's what I did here. Once the chicken cooked through, I removed it from the broth to a plate to cool enough to shred with my hands, poured the broth I poached the chicken in into a glass measuring cup and added chicken broth to the 2 cup line.

The original recipe calls for a shallot-I didn't have that so reached for a sweet onion and finely minced what looked like enough to equal a medium shallot, plus a little more for good measure (we love onion). I also wanted to add a pop of color to the casserole and had 3 bell peppers that needed a home, so I cut each in half, removed the seeds and chopped half of each one to sauté with the garlic and broccoli. The remaining halves were used on our Friday night homemade pizza.......perfect!

I had no-yolk egg noodles in the cabinet so decided to use those rather than the whole wheat noodles this time. They added a nice creaminess to the dish.

I used reduced fat cheddar cheese per Gina's instructions and shredded some fresh Pecorino Romano cheese with my Microplane-it has a little more pronounced flavor, so I like using it in place of Parmesan-especially in casseroles.

Gina used whole wheat bread crumbs on her casserole and ran it under the broiler to brown them. I opted for Panko bread crumbs-the seasoned ones. I gave them a quick squirt of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray before popping the casserole in the oven. I didn't use the broiler when the casserole was done-the Panko added enough crunch for us for the topping.

What an absolute TREAT this casserole is. This has all the flavor of an old-fashioned-tummy-pleasing-comfort-food casserole but has NO canned cream of something soup and is really lightened up calorie wise.

A serving of this with a tossed salad on the side and we were filled up to our eyeballs. It's even wonderful reheated. The only thing I might do different is not cook the broccoli for as long in the skillet-it was a little softer than we like it. I might try just stirring it in and letting the oven do the cooking.

Will I make this again? Oh you bet I will. We both love it. Thank you, Gina, for another wonderful recipe. If you haven't visited her blog, please do yourself a favor and take a skip on over there.......you'll be very impressed with the wide array of wonderful recipes-there's a wide array of dishes to please everyone in your family.


Carol


CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI NOODLE CASSEROLE
(Source: adapted from Gina @ Skinnytaste-original recipe found HERE)

3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 3/4 lb.) OR 12 oz. cooked chicken
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 c. fat free, reduced sodium chicken brother, divided
6 oz. no-yolk egg noodles
2 tsp. vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
12 oz. fresh broccoli florets, chopped
1/2 c. each chopped red, yellow and orange bell peppers
1 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 c. finely minced onion
3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 c. low fat milk
4 oz. shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp. shredded Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. seasoned Panko bread crumbs

Place the chicken breast halves on a piece of plastic wrap; cover with a second piece of plastic wrap and pound the thicker ends down to 1/2" thickness.

Combine the onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and paprika in a small bowl. Season each side of the chicken pieces with the spice mixture.

Heat the olive oil in a 10" skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken to the skillet and quickly sear on both sides until golden brown. Add 3/4 c. chicken broth to the skillet; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer the chicken for 10-15 minutes until cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate to cool enough to handle. Pour the broth from the skillet into a glass measuring cup; mix in the remaining 1 1/4 c. broth and set aside.

Cook the noodles in salted water until al dente, or slightly undercooked by 2 minutes; drain, rinsing them with cold water to prevent them from sticking together and let drain again while preparing the other ingredients.

Heat 2 tsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook on medium heat for 30 seconds; add the broccoli and chopped bell peppers with a pinch of salt (if desired); sauté, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes, then cover the pan and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes more or until the broccoli just begins to soften. Remove from the heat, uncover the pan and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Shred the cooked and cooled chicken with 2 forks or your hands; set aside.

In a Dutch oven, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add the flour and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes on medium-low heat.

Slowly add the chicken broth, whisking constantly. Cook over medium heat for 4-6 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the milk; bring to a bubble, reduce heat and simmer. whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat; stir in the shredded cheddar cheese and 1 Tbsp. of the Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese melts.

Add the shredded chicken, noodles and the broccoli mixture to the sauce; stir until all of the ingredients are evenly coated with the cheese sauce.

Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish; sprinkle with the remaining 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese and the breadcrumbs. Give the breadcrumbs a light spray of spray butter or nonstick cooking spray. Bake @ 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

I served the casserole as is, but if you'd like, place the casserole under the broiler to brown the crumbs, but watch carefully so as not to burn the topping. 6 servings.

[ChiliPepper]

I happenened to run into this recipe looking for something else. It looks DELICIOUS!!!

I miss Carol & her recipes!

[walker]

Just noticed this is almost four years old.  Sounds good.

[ChiliPepper]

@walker

Yes, it is an older recipe. I ran into it looking for something else.

It sounded really good, Carol's recipes were always delicious.

I thought others might enjoy it too.

[RespectLife]

Thanks for bumping this up @ChiliPepper

We have so many new people, I am sure they would enjoy seeing Carol's recipe.

I miss her too!!

[cece5231]

I miss Carol1229 too.  Continue to use so many of her recipes. Her white chocolate popcorn recipe that we absolutely LOVE was the first recipe I saved from this site.