Well... this is a familiar scenario.... chicken. But not just any old chicken, oven baked bone in chicken breasts... super moist tender and full of flavor. And in the chicken world, this is a bargain! I always get these enormous chicken breasts on the bone, and pay WAY less than boneless or tenders! Watch for them. They are always on sale and serve HUGE portions of chicken!
So, tonight we brushed a little olive oil on our chicken, sprinkled with garlic powder, thyme, oregano, salt and fresh cracked black pepper! Pop into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes (depending on their size). If you're not sure if they are cooked through, the juices should run clear when you slice into the meat (if juices are pink, pop in for another 5-10 minutes, that awesome bone will keep the meat moist while you cook it all the way through)!
While my chicken was cooking, I felt the need to get creative, but I only had broccoli and potatoes. Hardly the makings of something exciting, special, or blog worthy...
But then, I thought about macaroni and cheese and how I shouldn't want mac and cheese, with all of it's comforting calories, and cheesey creamy goodness!! I should eating lean, low calorie, super health conscious dinners... right??? So I compromised on this....
Broccoli.... and cheese sauce. That's right, I basically made mac and cheese, but subbed out the mac, and added broccoli instead, and it was spectacular, comforting, and ridiculously delicious!!
First, I washed, cut and blanched the broccoli in boiling (salted) water for 2 minutes.
Then, I poured that broccoli out into a strainer, just like it was macaroni, and rinsed it with cold water to stop the cooking.
Time for a cream sauce to make into some cheesey, saucy, awesomeness for our broccoli.
So, in that same pan, I added about 2 tablespoons of butter and a tiny bit of olive oil (about 1 tablespoon) with 3 cloves of garlic and sauteed for about 1 minute over medium heat. Then, I added 2 tablespoons of flour with some salt, pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper and cooked for about another minute. Add about 2 cups of milk (I used 2% lofat) and whisk over medium high heat until you see bubbles and it begins to get thick!
Once your sauce is thick, remove from the heat and add the cheese. I added 1 full cup of grated cheddar and jack cheese (combined) and let it melt into the sauce. Then I thought it would be... fun... to make little serving portions of this broccoli and cheese dish. So I divided my broccoli into each of these little dishes (coated with cooking spray).
I added the cheese sauce to the broccoli, and topped with a mixture of grated parmesean cheese and panko bread crumbs! So GOOD! Then, I popped my little broccoli side dished into a 375 degree oven for at least 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, this is what I had...
Dinner Stevie's way ... supremely moist, juicy chicken with garlicky broccoli and cheese, and baked potato... Yukon gold... soooo good!
Try this broccoli and cheese and watch the veggies steal the shine out of your chicken dinner! So GOOD!
Well... this is a familiar scenario.... chicken. But not just any old chicken, oven baked bone in chicken breasts... super moist tender and full of flavor. And in the chicken world, this is a bargain! I always get these enormous chicken breasts on the bone, and pay WAY less than boneless or tenders! Watch for them. They are always on sale and serve HUGE portions of chicken!
So, tonight we brushed a little olive oil on our chicken, sprinkled with garlic powder, thyme, oregano, salt and fresh cracked black pepper! Pop into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes (depending on their size). If you're not sure if they are cooked through, the juices should run clear when you slice into the meat (if juices are pink, pop in for another 5-10 minutes, that awesome bone will keep the meat moist while you cook it all the way through)!
While my chicken was cooking, I felt the need to get creative, but I only had broccoli and potatoes. Hardly the makings of something exciting, special, or blog worthy...
But then, I thought about macaroni and cheese and how I shouldn't want mac and cheese, with all of it's comforting calories, and cheesey creamy goodness!! I should eating lean, low calorie, super health conscious dinners... right??? So I compromised on this....
Broccoli.... and cheese sauce. That's right, I basically made mac and cheese, but subbed out the mac, and added broccoli instead, and it was spectacular, comforting, and ridiculously delicious!!
First, I washed, cut and blanched the broccoli in boiling (salted) water for 2 minutes.
Then, I poured that broccoli out into a strainer, just like it was macaroni, and rinsed it with cold water to stop the cooking.
Time for a cream sauce to make into some cheesey, saucy, awesomeness for our broccoli.
So, in that same pan, I added about 2 tablespoons of butter and a tiny bit of olive oil (about 1 tablespoon) with 3 cloves of garlic and sauteed for about 1 minute over medium heat. Then, I added 2 tablespoons of flour with some salt, pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper and cooked for about another minute. Add about 2 cups of milk (I used 2% lofat) and whisk over medium high heat until you see bubbles and it begins to get thick!
Once your sauce is thick, remove from the heat and add the cheese. I added 1 full cup of grated cheddar and jack cheese (combined) and let it melt into the sauce. Then I thought it would be... fun... to make little serving portions of this broccoli and cheese dish. So I divided my broccoli into each of these little dishes (coated with cooking spray).
I added the cheese sauce to the broccoli, and topped with a mixture of grated parmesean cheese and panko bread crumbs! So GOOD! Then, I popped my little broccoli side dished into a 375 degree oven for at least 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, this is what I had...
Dinner Stevie's way ... supremely moist, juicy chicken with garlicky broccoli and cheese, and baked potato... Yukon gold... soooo good!
Try this broccoli and cheese and watch the veggies steal the shine out of your chicken dinner! So GOOD!
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