Chicken Divan with Asparagus

 

When there’s a rotisserie chicken in the fridge and it’s a super busy week we tend to default to chicken green bean casserole.  Known here on the blog as curried chicken casserole.  Or Miz Lou’s chicken casserole.  It’s a family favorite.  I was ready for some nice, quick alternatives.  Turns out this is a great one.  Particularly when it’s served over rice and the sauce recipe is doubled so it can go into my favorite chicken lemon rice soup! 

This meal was so quick to make that I felt like I’d started cooking too early!  And, it was good!  Now, of course I didn’t follow the recipe.  Yes, I remain in the camp of a recipe is a suggestion.  No reason to not make changes in my book!

The original recipe called for chopping the asparagus and briefly sauteeing it then building the sauce on top of it and then adding the chicken.  Finally you put the cheese on top and pop the whole saucepan in the oven.  One, I didn’t want the asparagus to cook that long.  Two, I wanted a prettier dish.  And, three, I wanted the extra sauce for the soup. 

This will be a regular for us.  LOL, well as regular as any recipe ever is!

Ingredients:

1 lb thick asparagus, bottoms snipped

Olive oil sprayer

3 T butter

3 T flour

1 ½ c chicken stock or broth

1 T heavy cream

Juice of ½ lemon

2 slices chicken per serving

1 ½ c shredded mozzarella cheese

½ c cooked rice per person

 

Directions: 

Place the asparagus on a roasting pan in one layer.  Spray it lightly with olive oil.  Roast it for 5 minutes at 400F.  

In a saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter.  Add in the flour and stir well.  Let it cook for a few minutes to remove the raw taste.  Slowly stir in the chicken stock and stir regularly until it’s thickened.  Add in the lemon juice and the cream.  I also added in a cup of the shredded mozzarella.  

Lay the chicken slices on top of the roasted asparagus.  Spoon over some of the sauce.  Top with the rest of the shredded mozzarella and a little sprinkle of thyme for color.  Broil until the cheese is melted. 

On your dinner places, put a scoop of rice in the middle and top with some of the sauce.  Then, top that with the asparagus and chicken.  Serve.

adapted from 150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken by Tony Rosenfeld