It’s a comfort food. Always on the request list when our family needs to come together and just enjoy one another’s company, and maybe forget some of what’s going on in the real world.
I blogged about it last year and gave our recipe.
Stud Muffin was headed out of town recently and wanted to leave me some food in the fridge, so he found a broccoli and chicken casserole recipe and we made it together.
As I was eating it later for lunch with a friend, it occurred to me that it was probably supposed to be a “lighter” version of Chicken Divan.
It’s interesting that once I thought of it as a “healthier” Chicken Divan, it became just okay. When it was Chicken and Broccoli with Quinoa, it was pretty darn good. And to be fair, the website where we got the recipe never compares it to Chicken Divan. It’s just a “classic comfort food favorite.” Indeed. 😉
The main changes were making a white sauce and adding cheese instead of the creamy soups. The recipe called for quinoa but we used couscous because we had it. Panko instead of crackers for the crunchy topping.
But sometimes you just need the full fat version. When it’s comfort food you’re after, the lighter iteration just won’t cut it.
I’d prepare it again. And I’d eat it again. I just can’t think of it as Chicken Divan.
Arsenic with Austen did not disappoint!
Walt Longmire is the Sheriff of Absaroka County, in Wyoming. It’s a rural area, populated by ranchers, farmers, Native Americans. Crime runs from petty theft to murder.
Writer of Sweet Small Town Stories of Love and Family 