I had taken out a couple of chicken breasts last night for dinner and this is the result. It was quick, delicious and easy.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

2 chicken breasts - cubed and browned (about 3/4 lb.)
2 heads of broccoli - blanched
1 carrot - sliced
1/4 lb. spaghetti - cooked
1 can mushroom soup
1 soup can milk
1 cup cheedar cheese - shredded
1/2 lb. mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the chicken into large chunks and brown. Don’t cook until done, just brown them lightly. Blanch the broccoli and carrots in boiling water. After the water comes back to a boil cook for 3 minutes. Remove from pan and drain.

Cook spaghetti until not quite done, it will finish cooking in the oven. Drain and rinse well.

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Pour into a lightly greased baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Mixture should be hot and bubbly.

Serve with a salad and crusty french bread.

Serves 3 - 4

Note: If I was going to serve 4 people this dish, I would add another chicken breast.

This is an easy recipe for Chicken and Pea Pods. Cut up all the vegetables you will be using. I used pea pods, garlic scapes, celery, mushrooms and carrots. I got the pea pods and garlic scapes from the clean food network. I had never used garlic scapes before but they are wonderful! They are the top part of the garlic bulb that is cut just before it flowers. They have a mild garlic flavor. In place of them you can use garlic and green onions if you desire.

Chicken and Pea Pods

1/2 lb. chicken breast cut into strips
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon soy sauce
pepper

After you cut the chicken into strips mix the corn starch, soy sauce and pepper together and mix into the chicken. Set aside while you chop up the vegetables.

1/2 lb. pea pods - remove strings if necessary
3 carrots peeled and cut into circles
1/2 lb. mushrooms
garlic scapes
additional garlic if you desire
1/2 cup celery or bok choy

oil for sauteeing

Sauce:
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

Mix together and set aside.

Add some oil to the pan. Saute the chicken in a pan until cooked throughout over high heat. This will only take several minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan to a plate and set aside while you saute the vegetables.

Add a little more oil if needed to the pan. Add the garlic scapes, carrots, mushrooms and celery. Saute until tender crisp. Stir in pea pods and cover the pan with a lid for about 2 minutes. Stir in chicken and add sauce. Stir while adding the sauce. As soon as it is thickened it is done.

Serve over rice.

For dinner tonight we had pecan crusted cod loins. I used a crust of pecans, panko and wondra flour. The cod was topped with an orange, honey and ginger glaze. My mother-in-law sent a bunch of grapefruit and oranges from her backyard and I wanted to use some of the oranges. The orange sauce was really good on the cod and accents the pecan crust. I’d also bought a new ginger grater yesterday and I wanted to try it out. I also wanted to try the Wondra on the fish after hearing a chef talk about it on Martha Stewart as a coating in place of regular flour. All of these reasons led to the creation of this recipe.

This cod took about 20 minutes total to make including the glaze. The broccoli was frozen and so was the rice, making this a quick dinner with some do ahead cooking.

Pecan Crusted Cod Loin with Orange, Ginger and Honey Glaze

3 - 4 Cod Loins (depending on what you’ll eat)
salt and pepper
Wondra Flour - to coat fish with
1 T. water
egg
Bread Coating (recipe below)
Orange Glaze (recipe below)
Oil for frying

Bread Coating
1 cup Panko
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup Wondra Flour

Mix together bread crumb ingredients in a pie pan.

Orange Glaze
1 medium orange juiced
2 T. honey
1 t. fresh grated ginger
2 T. water
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper
1 green onion - sliced (reserved)

Add all ingredients to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to half. Stir a few times while cooking. Just before serving add green onion.

Add egg and water to a pan large enough to hold a piece of fish. Salt and pepper the fish pieces. Sprinkle the cod loins with the wondra flour. Dip into egg mixture. Dredge cod thru bread crumbs and coat well. Set on a plate and place in refrigerator for 5 minutes. You can skip this if you want, but your crust will stay on better if you do. You can leave in the frig for 30 minutes if you need to. You may need to recoat the bottom with a few more of the crumbs if you do.

Heat an inch of oil in a frying pan. When oil is hot add the breaded cod loins. Mine were pretty thick so they cooked in about 8 minutes. Use tongs to turn over the fish when browned. Drain on paper towels when cooked.

When you plate the fish, drizzle with the orange glaze. Garnish with lemon or orange slices.