broccoli Archives - Brooklyn Farm Girl

Cheesy Broccoli Stuffing Casserole

Oct 30 2018

Cheesy Broccoli Stuffing Casserole recipe made with Stove Top! This is one of my family’s favorite Stove Top Stuffing Recipes to make! This is a easy dish made with frozen vegetables, cream of chicken soup, rice and Velveeta cheese! It’s one of my favorite meals to make with Leftover Thanksgiving stuffing!

Stove Top Stuffing Recipes

What’s one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving? No, not the pumpkin cream pie. And no, not watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Although I love both of those. My favorite is…..

LEFTOVERS!

Oh baby, I love leftovers!

It’s like Thanksgiving for a week straight! Each night is turkey in new ways, mashed potatoes on the side and plenty of vegetables. One night it’s turkey sandwiches covered in homemade gravy. The next night is Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday again. And then comes the casseroles.

This Cheesy Broccoli Stuffing Casserole is my favorite Stove Top Stuffing Recipes! Not only does it make a perfect side dish for holiday meals, bu it’s the ultimate leftover meal using a bunch of stuffing. And what else do I love about leftovers? Saving money. Thanksgiving dinner is great because it’s literally 1 meal that feeds you for the next week.

This casserole besides being cheesy and delicious and mouthwatering and made of dreams (I like it, ok!) only has a few ingredients. There’s stuffing, frozen corn and broccoli, cream of chicken soup, white rice and cheese.

Nov 11 2017

This Broccoli Spaghetti Pasta recipe is great because it’s easy, full of flavor and healthy with vegetables!

Did you guys like yesterday’s post full of beautiful heads of broccoli fresh from our rooftop? Then I guess you wouldn’t be surprised to see a broccoli recipe posted today!

Broccoli Spaghetti Recipe

This Broccoli Spaghetti Pasta hits all the right spots for dinner. It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s fresh. It’s full of flavor. Not only is there broccoli in here but we also add in our favorite sugar snap peas. The peas aren’t cooked so they supply a nice crunch which screams Summer! The broccoli is simmered in chicken broth and then it’s added to the pasta to just coat everything in flavor.

May 11 2017

BAKED Broccoli CHEDDAR Cheese Sticks are the best snack! This easy oven baked recipe only uses a few ingredients to make cheese sticks which are perfect to serve as a party appetizer or snack! Your kids are going to love these easy cheesy broccoli bites!

Do you love broccoli? Me too! Do you not love broccoli? Well that’s about to change! These Baked Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Sticks are a great snack for broccoli lovers, perfect to serve as a appetizer for a party or as a afternoon snack. With our broccoli getting ready to be planted in the ground soon, I predict there’s going to be many Baked Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Sticks in my near future!

You only need a few ingredients for this recipe, the sticks are super cheesy, they’re packed with 3 cups of fresh broccoli – what’s more to say? They’re perfect!

Baked Broccoli Cheese Recipe

What else is perfect? The combo of broccoli and cheddar cheese! I love these 2 ingredients combined for macaroni and cheese, creamy soup, casseroles and everything else so they make the perfect best friends to create these cheesy snack sticks!

You only need 5 ingredients for this recipe: broccoli, bread crumbs, shredded cheddar cheese, eggs and salt. After you boil your broccoli to soften it, you’re going to add your broccoli to a food processor until smooth.

Then add the rest of the ingredients into a bowl with the broccoli, mixing until it’s all combined. Pour the mixture onto a pan lined with parchment paper for easy cleanup, shaping it into a 8×11 rectangle shape.

Dec 01 2016

I love this SLOW COOKER Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup! This soup is so comforting and cheesy, perfect for a cold Winter night! The soup is cooked on high in a slow cooker for 4 hours, making it a easy soup recipe! Your entire family, including your kids, is going to love it!

The end of November brought cold weather and rainy days. Because of the added layers to stay warm and the drizzle of rain it also brought a laziness to the dinner table. I’ve been stuck in a dinner rut the last few weeks making easy and quick meals. It usually gets to dinner time and we’re both too tired to really think of anything new so it’s something simple. I am craving comfort food right now. Hearty, creamy and cheesy is what I want. To make a comforting Winter meal that is still simple and quick, I brought out my slow cooker and this Broccoli and Potato Cheese Soup was born.

This soup pretty much is the definition of comfort food. It’s potatoes and onions slow cooked in broth. Then we’re going to add the broccoli. Add in some cheddar cheese, stir it around and we have a extra creamy soup that is the perfect dish to serve on a cold night. With most soups, I always suggest adding some crusty bread, or a leftover Thanksgiving dinner roll so you can dip it in the soup.

Oct 10 2016

INSTANT Mashed Potatoes Cheesy Broccoli Casserole is a comfort food recipe that will have your entire family begging for more! It uses Instant Mashed Potatoes so it’s easy to make. It’s the perfect side dish for the holidays because it’s cheesy and delicious and only takes 5 minutes to prepare, 25 minutes to bake.

Before we know it the holidays will be here and we’ll be planning our dinner menu with friends and family. I wanted to share with you one of my favorite holiday casserole dishes that I think you’ll like because it’s super easy to make and is pure comfort food. The casserole only has 4 ingredients: mashed potatoes, broccoli, cheese and crackers. Who doesn’t love those ingredients? I was serious when I said this was comfort food. It only takes 5 minutes to prepare, 25 minutes to bake. What you’re left with is a cheesy delicious casserole that will make everyone at the dinner table happy, including you because it hardly took any work to make!

The dish is easy to make as it’s just 4 level steps. First you spread out the mashed potatoes. Next comes the broccoli on top. Then sprinkle your cheese. Finally, add your crumbled up crackers.

Aug 03 2016

Crustless Quiche with Broccoli and Cheese is a easy dinner recipe your family is going to love. Instead of the traditional pie crust, you use kale to line the bottom of the casserole dish. Sprinkled mozzarella cheese on top makes it extremely cheesy! It’s the perfect way to sneak in veggies!

“This is one of the best meals you ever made” said my husband Matthew eating this quiche while eyeing up the last piece in the casserole dish. I thought I’d post this first because if my meat loving husband can fall in love with this Broccoli Quiche made on top of kale leaves, then I think that’s the only review I need!

Healthy Quiche

This quiche is filled with broccoli and kale. The broccoli is the main contents of the quiche while the kale acts as the pie crust. I was really craving a quiche but I didn’t have any pie crust and I wasn’t in the mood to make a homemade one so the sudden idea of using kale leaves to lie in the bottom of the casserole dish as a crust popped into my mind. I have to say this might be one of my most genius kitchen ideas to date because it worked beautifully.

Crustless Quiche Recipe

The kale turns a bit crusty while holding in all the contents of the quiche. I was worried that the wet ingredients would fall through the kale leaves but this quiche is not wet or soggy at all. The eggs bake perfectly. The cheese melts perfectly. When cutting it into slices it all holds together perfectly just like if you used a pie crust, but you didn’t and you saved yourself some calories.

Feb 17 2016

Cheesy Vegetable Omelette is packed with garden fresh vegetables! This breakfast recipe is easy to make and shows you how to make a perfect cheesy omelette step by step! The best part is that you can customize it what veggies you have – my favorite are tomatoes, broccoli and peppers to add in!

I call this recipe “Vegetable Farm Omelette” because you can throw into it as man veggies as you can fit. The omelette can be tweaked depending on the season. It needs to become best friends with your garden or farmer’s market. I threw broccoli, tomatoes and peppers in mine because those are my favorites (and what’s always in my fridge). I think this combo of veggies are a winner, but feel free to add in onions or carrots or chopped up spinach or kale to make your omelette more “you”.

There’s a few keys to a perfect omelette. You need a good egg recipe. You need to have the right size pan. You need to know when’s the exact time to flip one side over. I’m here to help you with all of this.

Ready to make a life changing Vegetable Farm Omelette? Let’s go!

First, cut up your veggies. You want to cut them pretty small. If the vegetables are too big your omelette might fall apart and we don’t want that. This is about a tablespoon of tomatoes, green pepper and a handful of broccoli. If some of it doesn’t fit, that’s ok, you can just throw it on the omelette when you serve it.

Nov 17 2015

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Cream of Mushroom Soup is a easy and quick recipe that is loaded with flavor! My family declares this homemade cheesy dish the best casserole I make! Warm up to this baked classic meal sometime soon!

We’ll be having our first Friendsgiving this Friday and I’m so excited to see friends and eat all their yummy casseroles, vegetable dishes and dessert. I’m also pretty excited to share this Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Cream of Mushroom Soup and Broccoli Casserole with them!

To me holidays are all about side dishes. As my first year as a Vegetarian during the holidays it’s going to be a culinary adventure but that’s ok, side dishes are always my favorite. In the past turkey has been good, but those potatoes, green beans, stuffing, rolls and pumpkin pie… load me up! I

made this casserole with the thought of doing a in between of a mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. It’s creamy, it’s cheesy and even better it uses my favorite Cream of Mushroom soup and a bunch of broccoli. Have you guys noticed my love of broccoli in recipes? I can’t help it. I see broccoli hearts in my eyes.

Instead of using all that milk and a bunch of cheese this recipe is calling for a Family Size can of Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom soup. You probably already have a can in your pantry for other favorite Thanksgiving side dishes but did you know it makes one heck of a potato dish too? This is one of my favorite Condensed soups to have on hand because it’s flavorful and saves me a bunch of time when I’m making multiple dishes at once.

You’ll want to slice up 2.5 pounds of potatoes. I throw these into my food processor and they’re done within a minute. I always think it’s magic. Then you’ll want to cut up a head of broccoli. Use the reference photo below to the left to see the size of the broccoli cut up, each piece should be small.

Nov 02 2015

This Stovetop 15 Minute Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese is made with 1 pot and 3 ingredients Grab your pasta, Velveeta cheese and broccoli and make this easy creamy homemade mac and cheese recipe for dinner soon! Kids will love how delicious it is! Adults will love how simple it is to make!

You guys, you’re going to love this Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese. It’s a real 1 pot, 3 ingredient, 15 minute meal and it’s one of my favorite cheesy pasta dishes.

1 pot – seriously.
3 ingredients – Noodles, cheese and broccoli. Boom, easy.
15 minutes – A real 15 minute meal. Not 15 minutes plus prep time. You might even finish in 13 minutes!

With recent chilly nights where I wrap a blanket around me, I crave comfort food. I want it hot. I want it cheesy. But I also want some vegetables because a garden girl always want some freshness. Plus I like to think that when you add vegetables to recipes it makes them healthy. Like Glazed Carrot Donuts, Red Bean Brownies, Sinful Chocolate Black Bean Brownies or Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese. See, all healthy recipes. You agree, right? Ok, great.

So Broccoli and Macaroni and Cheese was the only way to go. But with comfort food, I want it quick. That way I don’t have to get out of my warm blanket for more time. I could wear my pink house robe while cooking to stay warm, but trust me, noone wants to see that.

Feb 16 2015

AMAZING Chinese Pepper Beef Cubes – this easy to make Chinese recipe is tasty and will have your family begging for it! Serve beef and vegetables over white rice for a healthy authentic Chinese meal!

Do you have a favorite Chinese dish? I’m a big fan of Chinese soups (like salted pork and cabbage), Chicken and Broccoli and I’m always down for Lo Mein. One thing I always love in my dishes is a ton of vegetables covered in that delicious Chinese sauce they always smoother them in. It doesn’t matter if it’s peppers, broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts or something else, I can’t say no to a yummy vegetable.

Right now being Winter I am craving fresh vegetables. I am missing the green pepper overload from the garden. I can’t wait to pick broccoli in the Spring. Thankfully we still have enough carrots left from Fall so I have those to survive on. Over the weekend it was freezing (literally). The wind was harsh, my knees were shaking and my gloves didn’t feel like they were doing much of anything. One thing I craved when I got home was a warm fresh meal, something that would take me out of the Winter blues.

Chinese Pepper Beef Cubes recipe

Frozen Vegetable Recipes and Why Frozen Veggies Rule!

Nov 06 2014

The coldness suddenly hit last weekend. One week it was fine with a thin sweater, then suddenly it’s tights, long sweater, winter coat and hat.

One thing that comes with the Winter is lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. For us, the garden will still be growing a few vegetables under greenhouses, but there will be no peas, no corn and no carrots. Farmers markets will be closed, or only selling hearty greens. Grocery stores will have vegetables, but they won’t taste fresh as they’ve been shipped and prices will raise. You’ll suddenly see raspberries for $7 instead of the $1.50 you were paying in June. Oh and corn on the cob? If you’re in a cold location, good luck seeing it until next Summer.

So how do you get your vegetables during the Winter? Here’s what I suggest, frozen vegetables!

Apr 21 2014

Today we’re going to give a makeover to our favorite childhood sandwich, The Grilled Cheese.

As a kid I would beg my Mom to make Grilled Cheese sandwiches for lunch and dinner. When I wasn’t asking her to make them, I was ordering them at the diner served alongside a big spoonful of mashed potatoes. Did you ever have grilled cheese and mashed potatoes? It’s the perfect combo, especially if there’s a bunch of gravy poured over your potatoes.

One night we were craving something different for dinner but wanted to use up some fresh broccoli we picked that was growing under the greenhouse. After a quick broccoli roast, these sandwiches were made and enjoyed… very quickly! Immediately after finishing his Matthew said “I want another!”. Me too man, me too.

Mar 24 2014

I’m back with another Chinese Takeout recipe! If you haven’t noticed I have a crush on Chinese takeout, but not so much on the ingredients that sometimes can be added in the restaurant kitchen.

Some past recipes I’ve made that are Chinese inspired:

Chinese Takeout Chicken and Broccoli
Egg Drop Soup with Sugar Snap Peas and Greens
Chinese Vegetable Noodle Soup
Chicken and Broccoli In White Sauce
Homemade Chinese Pork Wonton Soup
Chinese Takeout Chop Suey
Hot and Sour Udon Noodle Soup

I love it!
I also love the comments that the Chicken and Broccoli recipe gets. Nothing makes me happier seeing a new comment that someone made it for dinner and loved it. It makes my Chinese Takeout loving heart so happy!

So after I completed the Chicken and Broccoli recipe I had one more on my “Must Master” list. That was General Tso’s Chicken. How do they make it so good? How does the sauce stay on so well? How do you keep the chicken crispy with the sauce? How do you get a hint of spice? I must have tried to make this dish a million times (ok not that much, but you get the idea) and every time it just didn’t turn out right. Then finally I got it! It was a beautiful moment. I cheered, I cried, I ate it, I made it again and ate more. I love this General Tso’s Chicken! Finally… you can have the takeout version at home! No wok required!

Chinese Takeout General Tso's Chicken

Ingredients

1 pound boneless chicken breast - cut up into bite size pieces.
3 eggs beaten
1/2 cup cornstarch
6 teaspoons cornstarch
8 tablespoons rice wine
5 tablespoons sugar
9 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons chopped red chilies
vegetable oil to fry

Instructions

In a bowl mix 1/2 cup of cornstarch with eggs. Add chicken and mix to coat.
In a small bowl mix 6 teaspoons cornstarch, rice wine, sugar and soy sauce.
Heat 1-2 inches of vegetable oil in a large pan to medium heat (use a thermometer to get it to 350 degrees).
Carefully add the chicken and fry just long enough until it's cooked.
Remove the chicken carefully to paper towel to let sit and absorb grease.
Leave two tablespoons of vegetable oil in pan, remove the rest.
Add chopped red chilies to pan and fry until fragrant.
Return the chicken to the pan and stir fry until crispy brown.
Add sauce mixture and toss with chicken to coat and turn into a glaze (about 1 minute).
Serve over rice with steamed broccoli.

Chicken and Broccoli In White Sauce

Jan 09 2014

Chicken and Broccoli In White Sauce is a savory Asian recipe that uses a creamy sauce. Your family will fall in love with it!

Do you love chicken and broccoli as much as I do? Goodness, I just love it. This is the chicken and broccoli recipe I love dearly and I have gotten such nice comments, emails and messages about it – I’m so glad you love it as much as I do!

I was in Chinatown a few weeks ago where I was feeling hungry after acupuncture so I ran across the street to a shop called “Excellent Dumpling House”. There I got some Chinese takeout goodies to go, along with a amazing pork dumpling. While I was waiting for my order to be done so many people came in and ordered the Chicken and Broccoli in White Sauce. My eyes rose every time someone ordered it, I had never heard of this at a Chinese restaurant. So I did what everyone else would do, I took out my phone and begun googling furiously.

In the next week, something was telling me to make this dish. I received not one, but two completely random comments and email asking me if I had a Chicken and Broccoli in White Sauce recipe. Can you believe that? First in line, then real life questions. It’s like I was meant to make this.

This is a great dish that is creamy and full of yummy vegetables (hello broccoli, sugar snap peas and carrots). It’s more rich than your usual Chicken and Broccoli due to the sauce which is made with heavy cream and Parmesan cheese.

Next time you’re in the mood for Chicken and Broccoli, give this dish a shot, I hope you enjoy!

Make sure to check out my Chicken and Broccoli Chinese Food recipe too!

Pin for later:

Chicken and Broccoli In White Sauce

Ingredients

1 pound cooked chicken breast - cut up into bite size pieces
1 carrot - peeled and cut up into bite size pieces
1 cup sugar snap peas - cut into thirds
1 head broccoli - cut up into florets
1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy creamy
1 clove garlic - minced
1 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
While oven is preheating melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add heavy cream and simmer for about 5 minutes
Add mined garlic and Parmesan cheese to heavy cream mixture, stirring until combined and completely melted and creamy.
In a baking dish, layer your chicken on the bottom. Then spread your vegetables on top.
Pour your creamy Alfredo sauce on top to cover.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Enjoy!

Creamy Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Nov 03 2013

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Do you know how much I love this Creamy Cheese Broccoli Soup? I made it for dinner on Friday. Then I made it again on Sunday. And now I’m thinking when should I have it again.

This soup is comfort food at it’s finest on a chilly night. The days and nights are starting to get chilly here even though a few days ago it was weirdly 70 degrees, then it was suddenly 40 degrees, and now there’s some nights set for below freezing. That means get out the big fluffy socks, wear your bathrobe for extra comfort (who cares if it’s 4PM) and grab a nice bowl of this soup. First about the chilly weather – I need a new winter coat. Ok, I don’t need a new winter coat, but I bought one at Uniqlo because I liked it alot. I wanted a long and comfy coat for some time as my other 2 winter coats range from a Brooklyn Nets winter coat which I wear to the all the games, and a lovely full length Wool coat which makes me feel like royalty. Whenever I wore this coat in London people stopped me on the street because they thought I was British, I don’t know I guess it has a “British” look to it, but sadly I couldn’t help anyone with directions – sorry! So I bought this coat but now I’m having second feelings about it. I’m not sure if it’s as warm as I thought it was going to be, and I also just don’t know if I generally like it as much. A plus is that it’s majorly comfortable and I could take a nap in it. Maybe I should return it and look for another coat? I don’t know! What do you think – what’s your first instinct? Be honest with me!

Back to this soup, it will help you get over the coldness for sure and it will make your belly really happy. In fact your belly will probably start to happily talk to you. You might be weirded out at first when your belly talks to you, but soon you’ll learn to get to used to it. Make your belly happy!

This soup has all the good stuff in it. There’s cheese and milk to make it creamy, then there’s broccoli, carrots and corn to make it a vegetable dream. The soup is incredibly creamy and if you serve it with a piece of bread, you have a perfect dinner.

Broccoli and carrots – straight from the garden.

Even better this is a soup that takes about 20 minutes to cook. I hope you make this soup for dinner, it’s a win win situation all around.

With every spoonful you get a good serving of vegetables covered in creamy cheese sauce.

And who doesn’t love creamy cheese sauce?

Creamy Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Servings 3

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
4 cups frozen or fresh broccoli florets
1 cup carrots - peeled and chopped
1 cup frozen corn
3 cups chickenbroth
1 pound Velveeta cheese - cubed
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried mustard
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup water

Instructions

Melt butter. Add in broccoli, carrots, corn and chicken broth.
Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.
Add in cubed cheese, milk and heavy cream
Stir in garlic powder and dried mustard.
Mix until cheese is completely melted (5-10 minutes).
In a separate bowl mix cornstarch and water until cornstarch is dissolved. Then add to soup mixture.
Mix for about 5 minutes on medium high heat until you reach a thickness you like.
Serve, Enjoy.

Recipe Notes

Servings: 3-4

CHINESE Chicken and Broccoli

Jul 02 2013

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CHINESE Chicken and Broccoli. Homemade, healthy and easy recipe that tastes just like your favorite Chinese takeout restaurant! Your entire family is going to love how delicious this is, and you’re going to love how simple it is to make!

When I get Chinese takeout I usually order:

Chicken & Broccoli
Broccoli & Garlic Sauce
Shrimp & Broccoli
Lo Mein with Added Broccoli

Do you see the broccoli love?

Authentic Chinese Chicken and Broccoli Recipe

I have been trying to perfect a takeout restaurant version of chicken and broccoli for many years. I was close but the broccoli was never perfectly crunchy, the sauce was too thick, the sauce was too thin, the taste was off. But finally, finally! I shake my fist at you chinese chicken and broccoli recipe because I did it!

It was a great moment sitting down at dinner to eat this and hear the cheers from both my and Matthew’s mouths. It’s really good. I don’t think I can ever order takeout again if I know it’s this easy (and much more healthier) to make at home.

If you love Chinese Takeout Chicken and Broccoli, you will love this recipe!

How to Make Chicken and Broccoli

Oh garden greens, I love you. I picked some fresh broccoli, green peppers and sugar snap peas. You can omit the sugar snap peas if you want to, but I would highly recommend keeping them in. It gives it a great additional crunch!

You want your chicken to be cut up into bite size pieces, and then you let them marinate for a bit until you are ready to move on to the next step with them.

This is the magic sauce that holds everything together. It’s the sauce I have fought with to get just right. It was a glorious moment!

The sauce turned out so well due to these 3 great ingredients. I’ve really come to love sesame oil in cooking the past few years. PS. Make sure you use low sodium or lite soy sauce, we want to cut back on the salt in this recipe.

And when it’s all done you will have one beautiful skillet full of chicken and broccoli.

Dive right in, this CHINESE TAKEOUT Chicken and Broccoli is delicious!

PIN FOR LATER:

CHINESE Chicken and Broccoli

CHINESE Chicken and Broccoli. Homemade, healthy and easy recipe that tastes just like your favorite Chinese restaurant! Your entire family is going to love how delicious this is, and you're going to love how simple it is to make!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 4

Ingredients

Vegetables

1 head of broccoli cut up into florets
1 small green pepper - cut up into small slices
3/4 cup sugar snap peas - chopped into thirds

For the chicken marinade

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts - cut up into bite size pieces
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the sauce

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cloves garlic - minced
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Additionally

1 tablespoon vegetable oil to fry in
1/2 cup water

Instructions

Mix your marinade ingredients in a bowl - add your bite size chicken pieces and stir. Set aside.
Mix your sauce ingredients in a bowl - set aside.
Steam broccoli for 3 minutes, drain - set aside.
Heat up 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken, it's marinade and 1/2 of the sauce mixture. Keep cooking until chicken is fully cooked.
Add steamed broccoli, sugar snap peas, green pepper and remaining sauce with 1/2 cup water.
Cook for about 3-4 minutes until sauce thickens up.
Serve and enjoy!

Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

Jun 24 2013

We’ve harvested alot of broccoli this season. Every single plant produced a beautiful big head of broccoli. You guys know I love broccoli already, but do you know I love macaroni and cheese too? Macaroni and cheese is a comfort food and it holds dear memories of my father making me dinner every single day he was home from work during high school. He knew I loved that mac and cheese so he made it once a week, I was a very happy girl. Thanks Dad!

So what happens when you mix comfort food with happy harvest? You get one of my favorite broccoli dishes: Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese. I love macaroni and cheese of all sorts. I’m fine with the box, I’m super fine with homemade. I’m fine with it made with cheese that comes in a foil package (Where my Velveeta fans at?), I’m super fine with a baked version. This recipe is a in between, yes it’s baked, but the inside of the dish is still soft and cheesy and gooey. It’s just perfect, the best of both worlds.

So if you like mac and cheese and you like broccoli, this dish is for you!

Baked Broccoli Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup elbow macaroni
4 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
8 ounces Velveeta cheese
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Boil water and cook macaroni as instructed on box. When there is 3 minutes left, add your broccoli to the boiling pot. Drain and set aside.
In a saucepan melt your butter over medium heat. Slowly add flour, dry mustard and pepper until it's smooth.
Add your milk slowly and keep stirring until it's smooth.
Add in your cheese and continue to stir until it's smooth.
Take off burner.
Add your macaroni to cheese mixture saucepan and stir until all noodles are coated.
Transfer your mixture to a baking dish. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top.
Cover and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly.
Enjoy!

We have a big bag right now full of broccoli. Every time I open it I just smile and breathe in the scent of broccoli.

For this recipe, you need 4 cups of florets. I leave mine pretty big.

For this, we’re going to cook our macaroni, then when there’s 3 minutes left we’re going to throw our broccoli in too. This means only one pot to clean. High 5.