Crock Pot Chicken and Broccoli

Another attempt at Chicken and Broccoli.  But this time was a little better than my last attempt.


I stopped in the market really quick the other day and picked up a package of chicken - 1 lb of chicken breast tenders.  When I got home, I realized that I had no clue what to do with it.  I had a bottle of stir fry sauce, but only peppers to go with it (not an onion to be found!).  Last week, I did Chicken Caesar Salad, so I didn't want to do that again so soon.  I browsed around online a little bit, and found what looked like a cool recipe for crock pot chicken and broccoli.  It had cream of mushroom soup and cream cheese, neither of which I had, so I ended up adapting it a bit...


In the crock pot, I threw together the following:

• 1 lb chicken breast tenders, cut in medium chunks (probably 4-5 pieces per tender)
• 1/2 bag frozen chopped broccoli
• 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
• 1 package Good Seasons Italian Dressing (just the dry seasoning)

That's it.  Cooked on low for 3 1/2 hours, and Viola!


Some notes on this:

1. It is better to cook the chicken, stock and dressing for about 2-2 1/2 hours, and THEN add the broccoli.  Because I cooked the broccoli the whole time, by the time we ate, it was like complete mush.  
2. I made this with brown rice.  I added a dash of salt into the water when I boiled it, and I would recommend NOT doing this.  With the concentrated flavor of the dressing mix, the salt was not needed.  Also - if you happen to have low sodium chicken broth, I would use it.  

Crock Pot Chicken and Broccoli

Enjoy!! :o)

Broccoli Pizza

I remember a long time ago, going with my Nonni and Pop to the Friday night Procession at St. Mary's in Cranston, followed by hanging out at their friends house, Mary and Pete.  That night, Pete's brother, Archie, had made a potato pizza and broccoli pizza.  It always stuck with me how much I loved the broccoli pizza.  And even though it's probably been about 20 years since that night, I've never made the broccoli pizza.  But always thought about it.

It was a very culinary-filled weekend for me, with the visit of my sister's mother in law, and making the lasagna.  On Sunday, my friend Connie came to my mom's house for a Mary Kay party.  She not only led the party, but also helped my sister design a look for her wedding!  I brought spinach pie and broccoli pizza.  The spinach pie will have to be blogged another time.  Today is all about Broccoli Pizza.

Here's what I did:

1) Spread the dough in the pan

       I used a cookie sheet and spread 1 1/2 lbs of dough into a greased pan (NOTE:  It's very important to use Crisco when greasing the pan, as oil will cause the dough to keep springing back.  Crisco will always keep the dough in place).  Another Note - cold dough spreads A LOT easier than room-temperature dough.

2) Cheese

       Normally, when I make pizza, I put the tomato (or broccoli) on first, and then the cheese on top.  For some reason, I decided to try it differently this time:  And it was a HUGE success.  I had a block of Supreme Brand mozzarella cheese in the fridge.  I grated it with a box grater and probably used about half.  Spread it all over the dough.

3) Broccoli Mixture

     I semi-defrosted 2 packages of Blue Bird brand chopped broccoli in the microwave.  While that was whirring, I sauteed about half a medium onion in some olive oil.  Add in the broccoli, salt (not too much because of the cheese, etc), pepper, and 2 cloves of pressed garlic.  Mix it up until the broccoli is warmed through (taste it to make sure it is seasoned well).  Spread all over the dough/cheese.

3) Grated Cheese

       I sprinkled some Peccorino Romano cheese on top of the pizza

4) Bake it, Baby!

       25 -30 minutes at 425* - make sure the bottom is browned, but not burnt!  

Make sure you let the pizza cool a bit before you start cutting it.  Now here's the key:  Because the cheese was on the bottom, it didn't burn when I baked the pizza.  It also served as the glue between the dough and the broccoli.  Normally, the cheese on TOP will keep the broccoli together, but it will all flop off the dough.  NOT this time!

Wahoo!!

MMMMM broccoli pizza!

Dinner Disaster

Last night I attempted a Weight Watchers recipe that a friend of mine suggested. Lemon chicken with broccoli. Sounds delicious.

The problem with my version: way too much lemon!! The recipe called for the zest and the juice, next time I'll skip the zest. I also need to cook the broccoli a little less.....I hate mushy broccoli...

So next time, we'll go with a little less lemon, and crispier broccoli. Here's a view of the finished product (served with brown rice)