Brrrrr, it’s time for comfort food in our house! How about yours? Sometimes I get a craving for something but don’t have a recipe in my repertoire. So, I go searching until I find a recipe that I can tweak to make it my own and sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t, but this isn’t one of those times!
I was craving a casserole of sorts with broccoli, chicken, rice, and cheese. I guess I was thinking of a “chicken divan” but I didn’t want that specifically. Of course, I googled “broccoli chicken cheese rice casserole” and began to browse the results. I landed on
this recipe and if you follow along, you’ll see where I’ve tweaked it and how I alter recipes to make sure they’re gluten-free, incorporate only goat’s cheese (since we don’t eat cow’s cheese), and have easy substitutions like yogurt instead of sour cream. I also look for ways to add more vegetables and nutrition.
Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole (Gluten-free) Ingredients 1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups brown rice
4 cups broth (I used our mineral broth, stored in the freezer)
4 cups broccoli florets
coconut oil
3 chicken breast tenders (boneless, skinless) chopped
salt
pepper
garlic powder
all seasons salt (from
Simply Organic)
5 teaspoons gluten-free all purpose flour (I use
Better Batter)
2 cups of milk (I used
So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage)
1/3 cup whole, plain organic yogurt (I used
Stonyfield)
6.7 oz shredded goat’s cheddar cheese
Directions Depending on your broth situation, you may have to thaw your broth like I did. I placed a jar of frozen broth in a pot on very low. It takes a while but ensures the jar doesn’t crack from temperature changes.
Chop onions and garlic. Add to a pot and sauté in coconut oil until wilted. I don’t really specify amounts of oil here. It depends on your pan and your preference. Besides, don’t all recipes say 2 Tbsp?
Add 4 cups of broth and 2 cups of rice and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to medium-low and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
While cooking the rice, add more coconut oil to another pan and begin cooking the chopped chicken. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
During the rice-cooking time, chop and wash broccoli, shred the cheese and measure out the yogurt.
When the chicken is cooked through, remove it to a plate and add half a cup of milk to the pan with flour. Whisk thoroughly and add the remaining milk. This will cook for approximately 7 minutes, while stirring constantly, until thickened. As it thickens, add salt, pepper, garlic powder and all seasons salt. Also add half the shredded cheese and the yogurt to the milk and mix together.
When the rice is almost done, add the broccoli to the pot (and cover) to steam.
Finally, the rice should be cooked, the broccoli should be steamed, the milk should be thickened and the rest of your ingredients ready to go. It’s time to put it all together.
Spoon the rice and broccoli into a 9×13 pan. Add the chicken and fold it in, distributing evenly.
Pour the milk-cheese-yogurt sauce over top and mix it in.
Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese on top and broil in a preheated oven for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it; it can burn!
We loved this. It was even better the next day. I thought I might have enough leftover to freeze or share with other families, but it was gone. That’s always a good sign!
friends!