Chicken Broccoli and Rice in less than 30 minutes

Today I want to share with you a fast and easy, multi-tasking, one dish, thirty minute meal…Chicken Broccoli and Rice.

If you are like me, you have the best intentions of making a side of veggies, except while making dinner you are also doing laundry, homework, cleaning out your purse, texting the carpool and catching up with neighbors.

So, if any of those proverbial balls are going to get dropped, it is often the veggies, because they aren't actually calling my name.  I get to serving the meal and look for the veggies which are so often on the counter or worse, haven't even made their way out of the fridge yet.

So, this dish is a godsend because the veggies can be cooked right along with the rice (talk about multi-tasking), that doesn't require any additional time, thought, effort or, thankfully, dishes.

In a large skillet, start with 2# of thawed chicken tenders cooked in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper.

When they are cooked, remove them from the pan and chop into bite size chunks.

Meanwhile, in the pan, sauté 1 chopped onion in butter.

After you've soaked up enough of one of the best smells in the world…sweet onions browning in butter…savor it...

The rest of the meal comes together in no time…

Add the chopped chicken back to the pan along with two cups of chicken broth (or water and chicken bouillon cubes, in a pinch), two cups of brown minute rice and two cups of fresh broccoli florets for steaming.

The rice is cooking, the broccoli is steaming…LIFE.IS.GOOD!!! Perhaps it is time to pour a glass of wine.  

Top with some shredded mozzarella, probably about a cup as well as some grated Parmesan, nearly a cup, for some richer nutty notes and a sprinkling of dried basil flakes never hurts either.

Some shredded cheddar is the final topping, for good measure.

RECIPE:

Ingredients:
2# of thawed chicken tenders
3 tbsp Olive oil
Salt and Pepper - to taste
1 chopped onion
2 tbsp butter
2 cups of chicken broth (or water and chicken bouillon cubes)
2 cups of brown minute rice
2 cups of fresh broccoli florets
Shredded Mozzarella
Grated Parmesan
Dried Basil Flakes
Shredded Cheddar

Instructions:
Cook chicken in olive oil until no pink remains, remove from pan to chop. 
Add butter and chopped onion to pan to brown. 
Then, add chicken, chicken broth, rice and broccoli. 
Bring to low boil for 5-10 minutes, until rice is cooked and broccoli is tender. 
Top with cheeses and basil accordingly.