Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

Don’t get me wrong. I love buttery, creamy, delicious alfredo sauce. But my love handles don’t. My mom clipped this recipe out of a magazine when she was visiting after the kiddo was born, and it’s really great. It’s not all that original, but it’s really yummy, plus, it’s lower in fat. It’s also very, very easy to make.

Again, don’t be put off by the whole milk in the recipe. We get it with WIC for the kiddo, but we have so much of it that I use it once in a while in recipes. It really doesn’t add that much fat per serving, and helps it to stay creamy since I’m not using butter or cream. If we have it in the house, I occasionally add a little bit of whipping cream, but not usually. I’ve never tried this recipe with skim milk, but if you do, let me know how it turns out.

Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

2 ½ cups chopped broccoli (more or less if you want)
2 cups uncooked whole-wheat penne pasta
salt
1 lb chicken breast, cubed - season with garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper, and oregano
½ cup chopped onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup parmesan cheese
½ tsp white pepper
few shakes of salt
bit of nutmeg and cinnamon (very little bit)

Cook pasta in pot of salted boiling water. Once the pasta is almost tender, add broccoli, and boil until tender. The whole wheat pasta usually takes just a bit longer to cook, and since we give this to the kiddo, I like the pasta and the broccoli to be just a little more tender.

Drain the pasta and broccoli and then return to pot (off of heat). Add a bit of olive oil and cover to keep warm. Pour the olive oil onto the wooden spoon before drizzling it over, so you don’t use too much.

Saute chicken and onion in olive oil until chicken is tender.

Add all sauce ingredients to the pan. Combine and heat until slightly thickened. Add more cheese if desired, or more milk.

Pour sauce into pot of pasta and broccoli and combine, then serve.

I think almost every time I make this I mess with the sauce, adding a little more of this or that, or a lot more of this or that if I make a bigger batch. Feel free to mess with it and make it your own. We usually serve this with a big Ceasar salad, and it makes a great meal.