A few weeks ago I attended a goodbye dinner for a client. The mealtime banter was light and fun, and at one point turned to the grocery shopping habits of another client in attendance. It turns out that despite that fact that his Denver field assignment is without his family, he can’t seem to pry himself from buying what he referred to as the “pillowcase” sized bag of broccoli and other warehouse goodies from Costco. This means he eats a lot of the same meals, over and over.
I joked that I should write one of my blog posts on seven different ways to eat broccoli in a week. While said in jest, it sounded like a good challenge to me, just one I will write over two postings to keep you in suspense.
The first step was to buy a bag of broccoli at Costco. It really is nearly the size of a pillow, but the price is fantastic so I can see the draw of purchasing the mammoth bag. I must admit it is a lot for my family of four to get through in a timely fashion, so I can’t imagine trying to do so by myself.
One of the ways we have enjoyed eating the broccoli is in a Lemon & Ricotta Broccoli and Chicken Saute. Equal parts of quickly boiled broccoli and cooked chicken chunks are slathered in a butter sauce that has a generous amount of fresh garlic, ricotta, and lemon pepper seasoning stirred in it. The recipe I share below calls for cooking the chicken from scratch, but if you have leftover baked or grilled chicken (or even pork) it can easily be substituted.
I’m counting the Lemon & Ricotta Broccoli and Chicken as dish one. Two other broccoli dishes I would recommend are:
- Substituting broccoli for the snap peas in my Parmesan-Jerk Sugar Snap Peas
- Trying my Ninja Panini
Tune in next month for the remaining four recipes of the seven different ways to eat broccoli in a week!
Lemon & Ricotta Broccoli and Chicken
¼ cup +2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, chopped in 3/4 inch cubes
1 pound fresh broccoli florets
2 tablespoons freshly minced garlic
2 teaspoons lemon pepper salt
¼ cup ricotta
Melt the ¼ cup butter in a large saute pan. Add the chicken to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked throughout and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, about 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a 3 quart pan. Add the broccoli to the water and boil for 5 minutes, or until florets are bright green and begin to get tender; drain, place in a large bowl, and set aside. Remove the chicken from the saute pan and add to the broccoli. Add the remaining butter to the saute pan, then once it is melted add the garlic to the saute pan and cook for 2-3 minutes or until begin to brown. Stir in the ricotta and lemon pepper until the ricotta is mixed in, then pour over the chicken and broccoli. Stir to coat, and then serve warm with rice, if desired.
Note: If you prefer to steam your broccoli, you can substitute broccoli that has been steamed for 5 minutes for the boiled version
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