Skillet Chicken and Broccoli

Skillet Chicken and Broccoli

By Mark Fitzgerald
We were wanting something different than chicken and rice this week.  So we started looking for something in which we could add broccoli.  This is what we came up with.  We keep almost all of these ingredients on hand.  You can always sub out frozen or dried for fresh.  The most odd ingredient is sun dried tomatoes, in which we try to dry each year from our garden.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds chicken cut into 1-inch squares 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced 
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano 
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
• 16 ounces penne pasta 
• 4 cups water 
• 4 cups chicken broth 
• 1 pound broccoli florets (frozen)
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk  
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Add 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 14 sauce pan over medium-high heat until just smoking. Salt and pepper the chicken.  Add the chicken in a single layer and cook for 1 minute without stirring. Stir the chicken and continue to cook until most until the chicken is lightly browned around the edges, 1 to 2 minutes longer.  Remove the chicken and put into a bowl.

Add another tablespoon of oil, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the skillet. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, 2 to 5 minutes. Add in garlic powder, oregano, and pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the pasta, 3 cups of water, and the broth. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until the liquid is very thick and syrupy and almost completely absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes.  Add the broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, and the remaining cup of water. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the broccoli turns bright green and is almost tender, 5 minutes.

Uncover and return the heat to high. Stir in the sour cream, cheese, and reserved chicken with any accumulated juices and continue to simmer, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked and heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.