Chicken Divan

I love a good Chicken Divan casserole, but some of the folks at my house don’t like the broccoli, so I took this recipe and prepared it leaving the broccoli out. We had it on the steamed on the side drizzled with olive oil and minced garlic.

I boiled some chicken tenders, chopped them up and set them aside. I also prepared 4-6 cups of rice and set that aside as well.

To make the sauce I melted ¼ cup butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat until melted. I stirred in ¼ cup all purpose flour and 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg. Stir constantly until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat.

I added 1 ½ cups chicken stock and 2 T. of white wine heating the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. I turned off the heat and added ½ cup to 1 cup shredded swiss cheese. In a chilled bowl I whipped ½ cup heavy cream until stiff. I then folded the cheese mixture into the whipped cream and stirred until fully mixed.

Add the chicken pieces and broccoli (optional) to the cheese sauce.

Serve the sauce over cooked rice.

Variation: Layer cooked rice in the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole. Spread chicken, broccoli and cheese sauce over rice and top with additional shredded cheese. Bake until bubbly at 350.
Serves 6