Yum-O

I made one of my favorite dishes, Mac and Cheddar Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli, last night for dinner. I don't think I really have a favorite dish because it wouldn't be fair to name just one. Anyways, it's not that hard to do if you chop everything before rather than during cooking.

This is from 30 Minute Meals

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound chicken breast tenders, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 pound macaroni elbows
2 1/2 cups raw broccoli florets


Sauce
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
1 cup chicken stock
3 cups yellow sharp Cheddar
1 tablespoon prepared Dijon mustard


Place a pot of water on to boil for macaroni.

Heat a medium pan over medium to medium high heat. Add extra-virgin
olive oil and chicken and season with salt and pepper. Saute a couple of minutes
then add onion and cook another 5 to 7 minutes until onions are tender and
chicken is cooked through. Turn off heat and reserve.

To boiling pasta water, add pasta and salt to season the cooking water.
Cook 5 minutes, then add broccoli and cook 3 minutes more or until pasta is
cooked to al dente and florets are just tender.

While pasta cooks, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add butter and
melt, then add flour, cayenne and paprika and whisk together over heat until
roux bubbles then cook a minute more. Whisk in milk and stock and raise heat a
little to bring sauce to a quick boil. Simmer sauce to thicken, about 5 minutes.

Drain macaroni or pasta and broccoli florets. Add back to pot and add
chicken to the pasta and broccoli.

Add cheese to milk sauce and stir to melt it in, about a minute or so.
Stir in mustard and season sauce with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken
and broccoli and cooked pasta and stir to combine. Adjust seasonings, transfer
to a large serving platter and serve.

Notes on what I do: Even though the sauce is mentioned towards the middle, I start the sauce right away and let it simmer the whole time because it gets a little thicker. Also I don't use cayenne pepper.. I'm not a fan of spicy food, but if you like it by all means add it. Of course I get whatever chicken is on sale, not necessarily tenders. Cans of chicken broth are more than a cup, so I add the rest to the pan of chicken and onions to deglaze the pan.


The best thing about the dish is that it makes a lot and like most pastas it is better the next day. When I move out I plan to make the full amount (but I may invite others over to help some, lol).