Sometimes you just need good, cheesy comfort food.

I recently tried a new cooking endeavor: cooking a whole chicken in a crock pot.  And by *I* I really mean David, since he did most the work.  Working with most meats tends to make me gag.  We seasoned said bird, popped it in the slow cooker on low overnight and awakened to an awesome smelling house the next morning.  David then dutifully picked all the meat off the chicken, which we then used in a variety of recipes, like chicken/artichoke heart spaghetti, creamy chicken noodle soup and broccoli chicken casserole.  That last recipe is a favorite that my mom made and is so simple, especially when you have pre-cooked chicken.  So here is the recipe.  The picture isn't mine, but this is close to what the end product looks like.  It was scarfed before photographic evidence could occur.

picture from here

 

Broccoli Chicken Cheesy Casserole

1 large package broccoli florets (cooked and I like to slice/pull them apart into smaller pieces since I hope to fool children into eating veggies)
4 cooked, shredded/chopped chicken breasts

Layer broccoli and chicken on the bottom of a 9x13 dish.  In a separate bowl, mix the following:

1 can cream of mushroom* soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup mayo**
1/2 tsp curry (I do a heaping 1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (the shaker kind is fine)
1 Tbs lemon juice

* yes, I know those canned things are yucky and bad for you, but I use them sparingly in my cooking.  For an alternate, check out this site for making your own creamed soup sub.  And it can be cream of anything soup.  I had a cream of celery that was close to expiration so I used it instead and it was fine, though it must have been more salty since the recipe was saltier than I remembered.
** I've seen variations on the recipe using sour cream.  I used olive oil mayo.  Non-fat plain yogurt would probably work well too.

After mixing those ingredients, pour over the broccoli and chicken.  Top with around 1 cup of grated cheese.  I use cheddar, but any cheese will work.

Bread crumb mix: use about 1 cup and a half of bread crumbs.  Use less if you're using fine crumbs like Panko.  I take a couple slices of bread and run them through the food processor so that I have a mix of fine and larger bread chunks.  I don't worry about letting the bread dry out ahead of time.  Combine the bread crumbs with 3 Tbs melted butter and 1/4 cup more of Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle that over the casserole and bake at 350 until hot and bubbly, around 30 minutes.

This creamy cheesy goodness even got my picky eaters to eat broccoli and chicken.  Enjoy!