First post of 2017! And it's already getting close to the end of January... we need to step up our game! A new baby in the house hasn't left me much time to try new recipes, though I have been looking for easy and quick slow cooker meals and large dishes that I can prepare and then have many leftovers from. One such dish is this creamy chicken, broccoli, and quinoa dish I made the other night. So this dish was good, not great. I found it to be easy to make with plenty of food to go around while being very healthy. Mine just didn't come out as creamy as I would have hoped... in fact it was a tad dry. I also would have preferred it to be more flavorful so maybe next time I'll add extra seasoning. I think I'll make this again because it was gobbled up by all of us and gave us leftovers for the next night! Yum!
Edit to add: I forgot to use the flour in my sauce mixture! Could be a reason for my my sauce not being creamy!
Ingredients (recipe from here):
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (I made my own)
1/2 cup flour (just realized I forgot to use this! Maybe that's why my liquid was loose and not creamy!)
2 cups water, divided
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup crumbled bacon, optional
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons seasoning
1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese (or any kind)
3 cups fresh broccoli florets
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2) Bring the chicken broth and 1/2 cup of milk to a low boil in a saucepan. Whisk the other 1/2 cup of milk with the poultry seasoning and flour; add the mixture to the boiling liquid and whisk until a creamy sauce forms.
3) In a large bowl, whisk the sauce, one cup of water, quinoa, and bacon, and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Slice the chicken breasts into thin strips and lay them over the top of the quinoa mixture. Sprinkle with seasoning. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
4) While the casserole is in the oven, place the broccoli in boiling water for one minute and then run under cold water.
5) After 30 minutes take the casserole out of the oven and stir it around, and if needed bake for an additional 10-15 minutes (I did 5). Add the broccoli and up to a cup of water, stir, and bake for 5 minutes.
