Chicken Noodle Casserole

My husband loves tuna casserole.  When he thinks comfort food, I am pretty sure it's at the top of his list.  Me?  The only way I am eating warm tuna is if it is in steak form, and warm from being quickly seared on a very hot grill.  I certainly don't want it anywhere near an oven, I won't even force down a tuna melt.  But, as they say, marriage is all about compromise.  So I set out to find a way to satisfy his yearning for noodles baked in a creamy sauce with veggies, substituting tuna with something we could both agree on.  Here comes leftover roasted chicken to the rescue!

Yup, I still had some chicken left over from Sunday's Herb Roasted Chicken.  Not a ton, but just enough to add into a casserole and finally be done with the bird.  We almost always have bunches of fresh broccoli & mushrooms in the fridge too, add them together with some whole wheat noodles, a lightened up cream sauce that uses Greek yogurt instead of Sour Cream and...Presto!  A new & improved Chicken not Tuna Noodle Casserole.  Happiness prevails in the Munoz Household!

Chicken Noodle Casserole
1 pkg whole wheat wide egg noodles (or regular if you don't want to use whole wheat)
1 small onion, sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 large or 2 small heads of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 to 2 cups roasted chicken, cut into cubes
1 can 98% fat-free condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
3/4 cup lowfat milk
3/4 cup nonfat or lowfat plain greek yogurt (you can sub light sour cream)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsps shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (I love the ones you get from Vital Vittles, available at my much loved/mentioned Dan's Fresh Produce here in Alameda).  Regular bread crumbs will work too.
Salt & Pepper

1. Cook the noodles.  Cook the egg noodles according to the package direction.  Once done, strain the noodles into a colander, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and drain thoroughly.  I like to use the whole wheat noodles for 2 reasons.  One, they are better for you than the regular variety and Two, the whole wheat noodles seem to stay firmer when you bake them in the oven.
2. Sauté the Veggies.  Add a little olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add in the onions and mushrooms and let them sweat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add in the garlic and continue to let cook for another minute.  Toss in the broccoli and season with salt & pepper.  Turn the heat down to medium-low and put a lid over the pan so that the broccoli can steam for 5 or so minutes.  Once the Broccoli has steamed, toss in the chicken, stir, and remove the pan from the heat.
3. Prepare the Cream Sauce.  In a mixing bowl or large glass measuring cup add the can of condensed soup, the milk, the Greek yogurt & the Parmesan cheese.  Mix well.  Season with a little salt & lots of pepper.
4. Mix it all Together & add the Topping.  In a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray mix together the cooked noodles, the veggie/chicken mixture and the cream sauce.  Sprinkle the bread crumbs and the remaining Parmesan cheese over the top of the casserole.
5. Bake.  Bake the casserole in a 350 F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until it's bubbly and the topping has browned.  
6. Serve!  A few minutes to cool down and dinner is ready to go!

So that's it for the roast chicken, no more leftovers to figure out what to do with, and no more leftover chicken recipes to post, at least until the next time I make a roast chicken!

Bon Appetit!

Laura

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Broccoli Stir Fry

Pancho and I love broccoli.  We eat it several times a week.  We like it roasted, steamed, grilled, cooked in a pan, loaded into a casserole, it really doesn't matter.  I don't think there is a way to prepare broccoli where we wouldn't like it.  We also love Asian food, and living in the San Francisco Bay area means that there are many many many places to get truly great Asian food.  Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Burmese, Korean, it's all here, and all within walking distance or delivery distance of our house.  Naturally, one of our favorite dishes is stir-fry broccoli, with beef, pork, chicken or tofu.  Only catch is that if we ate our beloved stir-fry broccoli out at these amazing Asian restaurants all the time, or even had it delivered- we'd be unable to pay the rent.  So, I've spent some time trying to come up with a Broccoli Stir-Fry recipe that's just as good as what I can get from China Gourmet or Dragon Village- our favorite Chinese restaurants down the street.

This recipe is sort of an amalgamation of several different recipes I've tried over the years, and you can use pretty much any vegetables or protein source.  It works great with tofu, chicken or beef, but we like it best with thin strips of pork, and of course, with broccoli.  The other great thing about this recipe?  It's super cheap to make.  The thin cut Pork Chops are really inexpensive and so are the veggies.  And, it takes literally no time to prepare (especially if you have the pre-cut bag of broccoli, & pre-sliced mushrooms)-

Cheap, Quick & Delicious... Winner, Winner, Pork Dinner!

Broccoli Pork Stir Fry

Thin cut pork chops (2 or 3), cut into small strips, seasoned with salt & pepper and tossed with some Cornstarch
1 small onion, diced into large pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
6 to 8 mushrooms, sliced
1 large head of Broccoli, cut into small florets
3 Tbsp Oyster Sauce or Fish Sauce (both available in the Asian section of Safeway)
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 to 2 tsp Garlic Chili Sauce, more/less depending on how spicy you like it.  (I use the Vietnamese kind, with the green lid & the rooster on the jar, also available at Safeway)
1/3 cup chicken broth
Salt
Pepper
Sesame Oil
Steamed Brown Rice

1. Make the Stir-Fry Sauce.  Mix the chicken broth, brown sugar, oyster or fish sauce & garlic chili sauce together in a small bowl.  Set aside.  
2. Cook the Pork & Onions.  Run about 1 1/2 Tbsps sesame oil around a large skillet or wok over high heat.  Add the onions, garlic, ginger and the pork strips, which have been seasoned with salt & pepper and lightly tossed with cornstarch (it helps make a thicker sauce for the stir fry).  Sauté for a few minutes until the pork strips are browned and the onions have softened.  
3. Add in the Veggies.  Add another Tbsp of sesame oil to the pan and throw in the mushrooms, cook for another minute and then toss in the broccoli.  
4. Add the sauce.  After a minute or two, pour the stir-fry sauce over the mixture and turn the heat down to medium.  Continue to cook over medium heat for another few minutes, until the veggies are cooked through and the sauce has thickened.  
5. Serve!  Serve over steamed rice.  We like brown rice, but white rice works just as well.

Bon Appetit,

Laura