As I was driving home from work, I realized I needed some food. I also remembered I had some chicken in my freezer. I had a vague memory of some sort of chicken-broccoli bake that I'd made ages ago, and so made a detour to the grocery store.
Turns out I remembered the stuffing and the correct "Cream of" soup... but I totally forgot the damn broccoli. The recipe also called for some Velveeta.
And I was too lazy to go back to the store.
So I improvised with what I already had, and it turned out decently okay.
EASY CHICKEN-STUFFING BAKE, BROCCOLI OPTIONAL, APPARENTLY
2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1 box of stuffing for chicken
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 bag of frozen broccoli (unless you don't have any or forget. Then you can use a bag of frozen mixed veggies that you totally happened to have on hand!)
cheese - either a block of Velveeta or a bag of cheddary stuff
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Cut chicken into approximately 1" pieces. Mix the chicken, frozen veggies, and soup together and pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Mine looked really thin and I was skeptical that it was enough coverage to not burn to a crisp, but it totally worked, so trust me on this.
If you forget cheese, just sprinkle a crap-ton of the shredded cheddar cheese that you already have in your fridge. Trust me, it's there. Because everyone always has half of a bag of shredded cheese in their fridge. Don't ask me why.
If you get Velveeta "cheese product", you're supposed to cut 1" cubes and I think it was supposed to be mixed in with the original mixture.
Make the stuffing according to the directions on the box.
Put the stuffing on top of the chicken mix.
Bake for 30 minutes, or thereabouts until the chicken is completely cooked.
Bam. DONE.
Leftover quality: better be good, 'cause I've got a ton of it. ;)
Cut chicken into approximately 1" pieces. Mix the chicken, frozen veggies, and soup together and pour into a 9 x 13 pan. Mine looked really thin and I was skeptical that it was enough coverage to not burn to a crisp, but it totally worked, so trust me on this.
If you forget cheese, just sprinkle a crap-ton of the shredded cheddar cheese that you already have in your fridge. Trust me, it's there. Because everyone always has half of a bag of shredded cheese in their fridge. Don't ask me why.
If you get Velveeta "cheese product", you're supposed to cut 1" cubes and I think it was supposed to be mixed in with the original mixture.
Make the stuffing according to the directions on the box.
Put the stuffing on top of the chicken mix.
Bake for 30 minutes, or thereabouts until the chicken is completely cooked.
Bam. DONE.
Leftover quality: better be good, 'cause I've got a ton of it. ;)
Everyone should learn to cook, then you have power over your food choices.
ReplyDeleteHowever, written recipes won't teach you to cook any more than having sheet music will teach you to play piano.
The biggest frustration for the home cook isn't cooking, it's following the written recipe. Recipes have inherent flaws and variables that make them impossible to duplicate and always let you down.
When a recipe calls for "one onion, chopped", how big is this onion? When a recipe says "cook under medium heat", how do you define medium? And, worst of all is cooking by time. "Saute for 3-5 minutes" can mean raw or burned depending on the stove, pan, ingredient, etc...
Why is cooking the only art form that has a strict set of instructions? You'd never tell a painter to "paint with 1.7 ounces of green paint for 22 minutes, and you'll have a landscape". No, he'll use as much green paint for as long as he wants until the landscape is complete. This is how people should cook.
I've taught thousands of people to "Burn Your Recipes" and cook like a chef at home, with basic cooking methods and the ingredients you desire.
Concentrate on the basic cooking methods of saute, steaming, braising, roasting, grilling, poaching, simmering and you can create an infinate amount of recipes that a book will never tell you.