Broccoli Alfredo Bake

Continuing the tradition of our 30 Day Meal Plan, today I have a meal that not only contains "cheesy" pasta, it also sneaks in a hefty punch of broccoli.  This meal can be baked in the oven or cooked in the crock pot.  For today's recipe, I am using the oven method...because I wanted it faster than the 3 hours the crock pot takes.  If you want to use your crock pot, dump in your ingredients (uncooked, except the chicken), mix together well and cook on low for 3 hours.  The crock pot is great if you find yourself with free time earlier in the day.  It is not so great if you wont be around in 3 hours (the pasta gets mushy if you over cook it) or you want to eat now.

You will need:
left over chicken, shredded. About 8 ounces
pound of broccoli florets
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (harder the cheese = less fat)
2 servings of your favorite pasta- I used Tinkyada gluten free shells
S.O.S Mix
1/4 cup of bread crumbs (optional- I don't use these in the crock pot version)
Salt/Pepper/Garlic
A crock pot or baking dish
cooking spray

Instructions:

Steam your broccoli.  I buy the steamer bags for the microwave.  I am not patient enough to cook it on the stove top.  If you are using the crock pot method you do not have to steam it in advance.  Place your cooked broccoli, and left over chicken in your baking dish (which I am sure you remembered to spray with cooking spray).  Sprinkle half of your parmesan cheese over the chicken and broccoli and mix well.  If you are like me, you will be excited to see that the once giant hunks of broccoli break up on their own now that they are cooked.  Yay for being lazy when chopping broccoli.

Drain your pasta, add it to your baking dish, but save 1 1/4 of the pasta water to make your S.O.S mix.  By using the pasta water, the left over starches will help it stick to the pasta.  It will also keep the final sauce from being runny.  Once you make your S.0.S mix, taste it.  Do you need salt, pepper or garlic?  I didn't- but you might.  Add your seasonings now.  Pour your S.0.S mix over the chicken, broccoli and pasta.  Add the rest of your parmesan cheese and mix well.  At this point, I feel it is important to point out that I am really trying to go easy on the dairy.  Some of you may disagree with my anti- cheese stance, so if you are one of those people, I would had some sort of Italian cheese now.  I won't judge you.  

Sprinkle the top of the casserole with your bread crumbs...or don't.  It depends if you like crunchy bits on top of your cheesy pasta.  I would leave this off in the crock pot, but they get nice and golden brown in the oven.  Gluten free people: as you know, sometimes gluten free stuff wont brown.  If you gently spray the bread crumbs with the cooking spray, you will get more of a toasty effect.  Just be careful you don't spray to close and blow away all your bread crumbs.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until it is bubbly.  Serves 4

That's what's for dinner!

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Calories: 228
Carbs: 30
Fat: 4
Protein: 13
Fiber: 2
Sugar: 2