Sometimes I miss those days. I miss the super clean house of those days but I do NOT miss the tyrant that I could be. I was watching home videos not long ago with Miss Avery and WOW I was snappy! And not snappy in a good way either I was downright horrible! I called Catherine later and told her I was sorry for being so snappy at her (to which she replied "Ma, I was obnoxious I'm sure I deserved it")
I really love that girl....loved her then but now I just can't express how much I love her (and not just because she has given me the three most precious grandbabies ever)!!
Anyway......this is one of those back in the day dinners that everyone loved. Even Wendell who didn't really like his food to touch would have seconds of this!
It's pretty quick to throw together, freezes GREAT and is pretty good as leftovers too!
I hope you make it soon!
Parmesan Chicken and Broccoli
2 cups cooked rice
1/4 c minced onion
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli florets
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
Italian seasoning
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 1/4 cups milk
3 oz cream cheese cut into small cubes
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped ham
3 Tbsp slivered almonds
Mix onion and cooked rice together. Spread in the bottom of a lightly greased 9X13 pan and set aside. Steam broccoli until bright green. Set aside.
In a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp olive oil. Season chicken with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Add to hot oil. Brown on each side cooking about 5 minutes until nice and brown. Place chicken on top of rice. Add a little more oil to the skillet if needed....scrape up all those lovely browned bits off the bottom. Add the garlic and then the cornstarch. Add the milk all at once and reduce heat and boil a few minutes until thick and bubbly (will take a little longer than a flour based sauce would.....keep at it, it's worth it)! Add the cream cheese and stir until cheese melts. Stir in the Parmesan the ham and the steamed broccoli. Pour sauce over chicken and rice. Sprinkle with almonds and cover with foil. Bake at 350 about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
You could make this with chicken chunks instead to bring it together really quickly. Just proceed with the sauce and stir in the cooked chicken chunks along with the broccoli and ham. Finish as usual.
To freeze this let it come to fridge temp then freeze (I freeze in aluminum pans). Thaw in the fridge before baking.
