CHICKEN, BROCCOLI, QUINOA CASSEROLE RECIPE

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts (sliced into strips)

1 16 oz bag fresh broccoli florets

1 cup quinoa (uncooked and rinsed)

1 cup 2% milk

3 cups fat free chicken broth

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tsp poultry seasoning

Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously mist a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonfat cooking spray.

Place a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat, and pour in 2 cups of the broth and 1/2 cup milk. Bring to a boil, then whisk in the flour, poultry seasoning and remaining 1/2 cup milk. Whisk well until the sauce is creamy and smooth. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Pour into a large bowl.  To the large bowl of sauce, add remaining 1 cup broth and quinoa, and mix well.

Place broccoli florets evenly into baking dish, pour quinoa and sauce mixture over the broccoli.

Season chicken strips with salt and pepper and lay them evenly over top of the casserole.

Cover with foil, and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and stir around a bit.

Return to oven, uncovered this time, and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until chicken is golden brown, and quinoa grains are cooked and tender.

Remove from oven and top with the mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.  Makes 6 servings – 1 cup each

Comment:  I made this using cooked chicken and it worked great.  The combined flavors of the chicken, broccoli and quinoa are simply delicious.  The 2 food testers that were fortunate enough to try this both loved it.  It does make a lot and I had enough left over for the next day and it was even better reheated.  The flavors had blended and I enjoyed it even more.  I did use colby cheese instead of the mozzarella but that was the only change I made.

Broccoli/Cauliflower Chicken Casserole

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts - cooked, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets

1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. water

1-1/2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked

1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl combine all ingredients except the cheese.  Pour into casserole dish.  Cover with foil and bake 45-50 minutes or until rice is done.  Cover with cheese and cook another 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.  Serves 6-8

Comment:  This recipe started out using broccoli only but I had some cauliflower that needed to be used so I combined the 2.  It was also cooked on top of the stove but I decided to make mine in the oven which actually took longer due to the rice.  I also added the can of cream of chicken soup to make it creamer.  This turned out so good.  The 2 'food testers' that tried it simply wanted more.