Stir Fry Chicken, Broccoli, and Cauliflower #SundayFunday

Tender, juicy, chicken stir-fried with onion, garlic, broccoli, and cauliflower in a delicious sauce.  Serve over steamed rice for a complete meal.

The Sunday Funday Bloggers are sharing recipes that feature Broccoli or Cauliflower.......

A Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole and a Lesson in Chemistry #CooktheBooks

This casserole is assembled, cooked and served all in one skillet, making it a perfect weekday meal.  It is coated in a homemade cream sauce instead of the canned cream soup often used in casseroles.  It is a great way to use up leftover chicken.

I was inspired to make this casserole after reading our Cook the Books Club selection......

Broccoli Cheese Soup in a Bread Bowl #SoupSaturdaySwappers

This Broccoli Cheese Soup served up in a bread bowl is perfect for the holidays.  It can be made ahead of time and kept warm, allowing your guests to serve themselves from a luncheon buffet that can also contain meat and cheese trays and salads for a casual, comfortable get together.

It's time for Soup Saturday Swappers.............

Sweet and Spicy Broccoli #HolidaySideDishes

This delicious vegetable side dish is perfect for any holiday meal.  It is perfect with your roast meats during Fall and Winter holidays and amazing with your grilled meats during the Summer Holidays.

Today is the last day that we are sharing Holiday Side Dishes for this event.......

Papardelle and Scallops in Saffron Cream inspired by Elsewhere, A Novel by Dean Koontz

Sweet, tender scallops poached in butter and tossed with papardelle and brocolli in a sauce flavored with a touch of saffron.  Comfort food at it's finest.

I was inspired to create this recipe after listening to Elsewhere by Dean Koontz......

Crustless Broccoli and Cheese Mini Quiches #BrunchWeek

These little bite size, crustless quiches are perfect for on your brunch buffet or as an appetizer to snack on while waiting for a plated brunch.  

Today is the first day of Brunch Week.......

Rainbow Roasted Vegetables in the Air Fryer and the Weekly Menu #SundayFunday

Colorful and flavorful, these vegetables roasted in an air fryer are ready to go on the table in only 20 minutes.

Today is National Eat a Rainbow Day.......

Ham and Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes #BakingBloggers

Perfectly baked, salt crusted potatoes stuffed with ham and broccoli in a creamy, delectable cheese sauce.

The Baking Bloggers are sharing potato recipes today..........

Asian Noodle Salad #ImprovCookingChallenge

This easy peasy pasta salad with a peanut butter and ginger dressing is a perfect side dish for serving at a potluck or a wonderful meatless entree.

It is my offering with Peanuts and Ginger for our Improv Cooking Challenge......

Broccoli Bread #BreadBakers

 Cut open this bread to find a savory filling of broccoli, cheese, tomatoes and olives.  It is perfect as an appetizer or even a light meatless meal when served with a side salad.

The Bread Bakers are sharing "Surprise Inside" Breads today..........

Pasta and Broccoli in Garlic Oil #LitHappens

"And Joe cooked them all a great garlicky pasta-and-broccoli meal."

This single sentence from The Midnight Library by Matt Haig was the inspiration for our Good Friday dinner.

Air Fryer Roasted Broccoli #MultiCookerMonday

The next time you are looking for a vegetable side but are tired of the same old steamed veggies and didn't leave enough time to roast your veggies, turn to the air fryer.  This broccoli was roasted in the same amount of time it would have taken to steam them.   So very delicious.

It's time for Multi-Cooker Monday.....

Noodle Stir Fry with Chicken #OurFamilyTable

This easy, nutritious and delicious stir fry has dinner on the table in less than half an hour. Tender chicken breast and fresh veggies tossed with spaghetti noodles and a flavorful sweet spicy sauce.

The From Our Dinner Table Group are sharing easy stir fry recipes today......

Broccoli Cheese Casserole #ImprovCookingChallenge

Tender broccoli florets blanched and tossed with melted cheese and buttery crackers then topped with more crackers and butter and baked to a beautiful golden brown.  This recipe makes enough for a crowd and there won't be any leftovers.

We are cooking up Cheese and Crackers for this month's Improv Cooking Challenge......

Creamy Herb Cheese Pasta Bake #FantasticalFoodFight

This creamy herb pasta is quick, easy and delicious.  Prepare the sauce while the pasta boils and dinner is on the table in less than half an hour.

We are duking it out over Pasta this month with our Fantastical Food Fight..........

A #CooktheBooks Rant

This month's Cook the Book selection was Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper; A Memoir by Fuchsia Dunlop.  It was chosen by my friend, Deb, of Kahakai Kitchen.  You can find her invitation post and learn how to join us here. 

Let me start off by saying that I am an omnivore. I love to eat.  I have no qualms about eating meat.  I anxiously try new things.  I believe in the nose to tail movement.  I have raised my own meat chickens, turkeys and hogs.  I hate to see an animal give up it's life and not be used completely.  I cook and eat tongue, pickle pigs feet, and fondly remember eating Grandma's head cheese.  I have tried duck blood soup and enjoy eating from both land and sea.  

This chart is from Britain.  Ms. Dunlop's home country.

That being said, I am also a big proponent of eating sustainably and treating our food humanely while it awaits it's turn to become our dinner.  I believe we should use all that an animal has to offer and not only those parts considered "choice" or "prime".  

I also believe that we have a responsibility to live our lives with truth and integrity and that there are things far more important than money and prestige....like being able to look at yourself in the mirror each day.

I don't see how Ms. Dunlop can do that.  I can understand her quest to immerse herself in the culture of the food she was studying.  She had promised herself that she would eat anything if it helped her in her quest to cook and live as the Chinese do.  My question is why?  Why would eating shark's fin be that important that you would ignore the crisis created by finning?  Why would you EVER even think about eating a Bear Paw when the rest of the bear is left to rot?  Why would you continue to eat food that is suffering near extinction from over fishing and over hunting?  

I don't care if you did make a promise to yourself.  I understand some countries eat dog, horse, monkey, etc.  I might even try those things as those animals are not in danger of extinction. I'm sure there are people who disdain my taste for venison.  But I would never eat something, even if I loved it, if it were going to cause animals to suffer and die for nothing more than one piece of their body.  I don't care how much I love certain kinds of fish, I always try to buy fish according to sustainability. 

I wonder what Ms. Dunlop would have done had she found that they killed and ate little babies as part of their culture.  Would she have done so and then written about how guilty it made her feel?!!!

I did not like Ms. Dunlop.  She often complained during this book of how certain foods would make her stomach queasy.  I can't think of any food that makes me queasier than Ms. Dunlop's total disregard and blatant disrespect of the resources that we have been given. 

I am not naïve enough to think, that had Ms. Dunlop not done these things, it would have made a difference in the culture and mindset of people that do.  However, I do think that the only person we can control is ourselves. It is  like throwing that one starfish back into the ocean when there were thousands washed up on the beach.  You can't save them all but you did save that one. What each and every person does can make an impact.

Every time you choose to forego a straw in a restaurant or take a reusable bag to the grocers makes a difference.  Each time a person decides to pay huge amounts of money to eat a snake that is endangered makes a difference.

I do agree with Ms. Dunlop that the fault does not lie with the poor person who is trying to feed his/her family rice.  Of course, if they see a chance to make some money by capturing and selling animals that are endangered, they will do so.  No animal is more important than your child, after all.  No, the fault lies completely with people, like Ms. Dunlop, who purchase and eat those animals.  

I hate the fact that I supported Ms. Dunlop by purchasing her memoir.  I certainly will not be buying her cookbooks and I have no stomach for even offering her the courtesy of trying one of her recipes that was in this book.  

I love Asian food as I have come to know it and to which in a small little blurb Ms. Dunlop described it.  The second thing written in this book that I could actually agree with is found near the end when she writes:

"The traditional diet of the Chinese masses could be a model for the entire human race.  It's the way the older generation, the poor and the wise still eat: steamed rice or boiled noodles, served with plenty of seasonal vegetables, cooked simply: bean curd in many forms; very few sweetmeats; and small amounts of meat and fish that bring flavour and nourishment"

 So with those words in mind I am sharing a quick, easy and flavorful stir fry.  I hope that you enjoy it.  Rant over.....

Marinated chicken is quickly stir fried with broccoli and onions.  Served with steamed rice, it makes a complete, nutritious and delicious meal.

Yield: 4 servings
Author: Wendy Klik
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Broccoli Chicken

This quick and delicious stir fry is ready in the time it takes to steam some rice. It makes a complete and delicious meal, perfect for those busy weeknights.

prep time: 15 MINScook time: 10 MINStotal time: 25 mins

ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. ginger paste

1 T. coconut aminos or soy sauce

2  T. sugar

1 t. cornstarch

pinch of salt

1 T. sesame oil

2 T. peanut oil

1/2 of a sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 head broccoli, trimmed, florets separated, stalks cut into bite size pieces

pinch of crushed red pepper

2 T. Teriyaki sauce

instructions

Place the garlic, ginger, aminos, sugar, cornstarch, salt and sesame oil into a sealable plastic bag.  Shake to combine and dissolve sugar.  Add the chicken.  Press air from bag so chicken is fully covered with marinade.  Set aside while you cut up onion and broccoli.

Heat the peanut oil in a large wok over med high heat.  Add the broccoli stems and onions.  Cook and stir until onions are translucent.  Add the broccoli florets  and stir fry for a couple of minutes. 

Add the chicken with the marinade and a pinch of crushed red pepper to the pan.  Cook and stir until the chicken is cooked through, 3-4 minutes.  Add the Teriyaki sauce and stir to coat.

Serve over steamed rice.

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Broccoli and Blue Cheese Gratin #EasterRecipes

Christie, of a Kitchen Hoor's Adventures , invited members of our Festive Foodies group to join her on Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week posting recipes to help our readers get ready for Easter.

I will be joining in the fun for all three days, starting with a vegetable side that is sure to be a hit for your Easter Banquet.

I don't know about you but I like to go all out on Holidays and Easter is my favorite Holiday of all.  We will have a sit down dinner that will start with a first course, normally some sort of seafood.  This is followed by soup and then a salad.  The entrée will contain 3 or 4 meats.  There is always Ham, always Kielbasa, usually lamb and then a beef or chicken dish of some sort.  Sides always include some sort of potato dish and usually a sweet potato dish of some sort, as well.  Baked pineapple and baked beans to go with the ham. Several vegetables are also served.  Fresh asparagus and buttered corn for sure and then one or two more. There is always a butter lamb and fresh baked bread.  We gorge and then eat leftovers all week long.

This Broccoli and Blue Cheese Gratin is so good and I promise that if you leave off the blue cheese in the title even blue cheese haters will eat it, love it and be none the wiser.  And as a bonus, the leftovers can be turned into a kick butt soup.

This recipe is adapted from one I found in a Williams Sonoma cookbook.  I used gorgonzola cheese to keep it mild, as my husband and some of the kids don't care for blue cheese.  I didn't mention to them that there was blue cheese in the dish.  They loved it and a couple of them went back for seconds.

This dish can be made ahead of time but wait to add the bread crumbs right before it goes into the oven so it doesn't get soggy.

This is a great side for Easter because many enjoy ham for dinner. I think that nothing is better with ham than broccoli and cheese. YUM

Stop by and visit all the other Easter Recipes.  You will find links at the bottom of this post.

Broccoli and Blue Cheese Gratin

adapted from William Sonoma

2 - 3 lbs. broccoli florets

1/4 stick butter

4 T. flour

2 1/2 c. milk, full fat

salt and pepper to taste

3 oz. crumbled gorgonzola cheese

3/4 c. dried bread crumbs

Place the broccoli florets in a steamer and cook for about 15 minutes, until tender.  

While broccoli is steaming, melt the butter in a saucepan over med high heat.  Add the flour and whisk in.  Reduce the heat to low and add the milk, whisking constantly until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat for 10-15 minutes until thickened.  Stir in blue cheese just until melted and remove from heat.

Add the broccoli to the blue cheese sauce and gently fold in until coated. Pour mixture into a casserole that has been treated with butter or cooking spray.  Don't worry if it is soupy, it will continue to thicken as it bakes.  Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and bake in a preheated 350* oven for about half an hour, until hot and bubbly and the bread crumbs are toasty brown.  Print Recipe

Monday Easter Week Recipes

• Broccoli and Blue Cheese Gratin by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Bunny Cinnamon Rolls by Family Around the Table
• Bunny Mary by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Carrot Roll Cake by Cookaholic Wife
• Chocolate Dipped Robin's Egg Cookies by Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Crunchy Easter Bird Nest Granola Bites by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Deviled eggs with creme Fraiche and herbs by Simple and Savory
• Easter M&M Blondies by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Easter Mini Chocolate Rum Cupcakes by Daily Dish Recipes
• Egg Benedict Quiche by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Orange Ricotta Pancakes by Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Puff Pastry Eggs with Ham and Cheese by All that's Jas
• Sausage and Spinach Pie by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Tsoureki - Greek Easter Bread by Caroline's Cooking
• Whipped Ricotta Salad by Sew You Think You Can Cook

Ham. Broccoli and Cheese Corn Muffins #MuffinMonday

Here's a great way for you to use up some of those Christmas leftovers.  These muffins go together quickly and make a quick nutritious breakfast.

It is nice to be able to just sit and relax with one of these muffins and a cup of coffee now that there is a slight lull in the Holiday activities.

These muffins also freeze well so that when everyone goes back to work and school they can be taken out the night before and grabbed as people are running out the door, getting accustomed to real life once again.

Welcome to a late edition of Muffin Monday.  Since Christmas fell on our normally scheduled posting date, our leader, Stacy of Food Lust People Love, took a vote to see if we wanted to change  the date or skip this month.

I voted for changing it to today because I knew I would have leftovers and making muffins is a great foil for so many items.  I love repurposing leftovers into new dishes.

We had Ham for Christmas Dinner and a Broccoli Gratin. There was a lot of leftover ham and a small bit of the Gratin that contained blue cheese.  It was the perfect combination for these muffins.

Ham, Broccoli and Cheese Corn Muffins

1/2 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. flour
1 T. sugar
pinch of salt
2 t. baking powder
1/2 c. milk
2 T. olive oil
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. diced ham
1/2 c. broccoli/blue cheese gratin,chopped (or 1/2 c. steamed broccoli and 1 oz. blue cheese crumbles)

Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl.  Make a well in the dry ingredients.  Add egg, milk and olive oil into the hole.  Stir just until combined.  Fold in ham and broccoli gratin.  Divide between a six cup muffin tin that has been treated with cooking spray.  Bake in a preheated 450* oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted removes cleanly.  Print Recipe

More Magnificent Muffins

• Black-Eyed Pea Bacon Cocktail Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Bloody Mary Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Chicken and Corn Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Ham, Broccoli and Cheese Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shallot and Gruyère Cheese Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

First Monday Favorites

Sidsel of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking invites foodie bloggers everywhere to link up their favorite recipe from the previous month on the first Monday of each new month.

My personal favorite from last month was this Copy Cat Big Boy Broccoli soup that I made for #SoupSaturdaySwappers. You can learn all about our group and get the recipe for this wonderful soup at my original post.

You can also link up your favorite recipe from last month and/or take a look at others favorites by clicking on any of the links below.

Happy Monday Folks.

More First Monday Favorites

An InLinkz Link-up

Copy-Cat Big Boy Broccoli Soup #SoupSaturdaySwappers

Welcome to Soup Saturday Swappers.  I started this group as a way to unite those who, like me, were raised eating a lot of soups and stews when growing up.

Our moms had large families and small incomes and needed to make their grocery budget stretch. My mom did this by serving soups and stews several times a week.   It was a great way to feed a family of eight plus all of the friends we brought to the table with not one person leaving the table hungry.

If you like soups and would like to join our group we would love to have you, just leave your blog url and email address in the comments section of this post.  We post on the 3rd Saturday of each month based on a theme chosen by one of our members.  This months theme, Copy Cat Recipes, is being hosted by Heather of All Roads Lead to the Kitchen..

I love broccoli soup and one of my favorites is from Big Boy Restaurants.  Big Boy Restaurants can be found throughout the United States and are also located in Japan, making them an International Restaurant.  Did you know that?  I  didn't.  I thought they were a Midwestern restaurant but Wikipedia set me straight.  According to them, Big Boy was first started in California and then spread across the country.  In 2000 the company changed hands to the current owners who have also started franchises in Japan.

I wonder if they use the same recipes in Japan?  Anyway, back to my soup.  I did another google search for Big Boy Broccoli Soup and found a whole website of Top Secret Recipes from Todd Wilbur.  A search on this site landed me the recipe I adapted for my soup.

My adaptations are very slight.  I added 2 more cups of broth and 1 more head of broccoli and omitted the ham. I used an immersion blender to puree the soup.  I was amazed at how perfectly this recipe replicated that soup from Big Boy that I love.

This recipe is very easy and is ready in less than an hour.  It reheats very well and is perfect to take to work or school in a lunchbox in the event you have any leftovers.

I didn't miss the ham but I will add it next time if I have any on hand in the house.  In fact, this recipe would be very adaptable to using holiday leftovers.  I garnished each bowl with some shredded cheese before serving but failed to take a photo with the cheese garnish.

Copy-Cat Big Boy Broccoli Soup

slightly adapted from Todd Wilbur

6 c. Chicken broth

2 lg heads broccoli, florets removed and coarsely chopped

1 onion, diced

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c. flour

1/2 c. heavy cream

Place the broth, broccoli, onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper in a large soup pot over high heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Using an immersion blender, puree about half of the soup.  Combine the flour and cream.  Whisk the cream mixture into the soup, stirring until all lumps are dissolved.  Cook over low heat for an additional 10-15 minutes to allow the soup to thicken. Print Recipe

More Copy-Cat Creations

An InLinkz Link-up