Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Potatoes

A late post for Family Favourites Friday – at least we got the weekend! Just a quick and easy one for a week I’ve been sick.

This is a nod to the jacket potato of UK pub grub. My friend Michelle will be waiting for this one, and I love these meals too. When the Mr. and I visited the UK a couple years ago, we ate a lot of these jacket potatoes. They were warm and filling, and pretty healthy given some of the other options.

You’ll Need: 4 large baking potatoes, 3/4lb skinless boneless chicken breasts, paprika, salt & pepper, 1Tbsp. butter, 2c. small broccoli florets, 2/3c. chicken broth (recipe says fat-free, low-sodium… I bought some but would usually use homemade), and 1c. grated cheese of your choice (I’m a sucker for good sharp cheddar).

I’ve also got some stuff here for an easy caesar salad.

 

Get your potatoes baking. However you want to do this is fine with me – oven gives better results than microwave, but I understand tight timelines. I did mine on the grill:

 

Cut your chicken into bite-sized pieces, and season with paprika, salt & pepper. Melt butter in a large skillet and cook the broccoli and chicken for about 5 minutes. Add your broth, bring to a boil, and cook until chicken is done (about 3 minutes – I went a little long, so watch this carefully). The butter and the broth make a nice rich sort of sauce, and it is good. When I say I went a little long, I mean that most of my broth simmered away. I got distracted with the salad making. Don’t do that.

Split open those potatoes, fluff ’em up, and top with the chicken and brocolli. Then with grated cheese.

 

Dig in. I loved the cheddar, but am going to experiment with other cheeses as well – I think a monterey jack would be great, and would change it up quite nicely.

The Mr. Says: This is suspiciously simple for something so delicious.

Me: It is simple. Really.

The Recipe in Full:

• 4 baking potatoes
• 3/4lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• paprika, salt, and pepper
• 1Tbsp butter
• 2c. small broccoli florets
• 1c. grated cheese (your choice!)

Bake potatoes using method of choice.

Toss chicken pieces with seasoning.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add chicken & broccoli, and sauté for 5min.

Add broth, bring to a boil, and cook until chicken is done (~3min).

Split potatoes open. Fluff with a fork. Spoon chicken mix over potatoes, and sprinkle with cheese.

Be Bee Friendly

My dad took this beautiful photo outside of our office a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, it’s bee-opolis! Can anybody tell us what the bush is? I’d be interested in getting one for our yard.

We’re all aware of the vanishing honeybees issue. While we’re not quite ready to start keeping bees (though it’s a hopeful one-day project for me), we’re keen to make our yard and garden more bee-friendly. I found this helpful list and want to keep it in mind as we choose our plants:

In our yard, we find lots of  buttercups and honeysuckle (reportedly planted by my great-grandmother). We have lavender and rosemary, and several fruit trees. There are hawthorn, hazel, and maple trees. The Mr. plans to plant a blueberry bush, and I’d like to add cilantro, thyme and a variety of mints to our herb garden. Fruits and veggies… well, we’ll see. 😉