This recipe turns out to be a very popular one.  I say this because in the collection of recipes gifted to me, I received three slightly different versions of Chicken Divan.  All from three fabulous women; Molly Hill, Melissa Ferguson and my cousin Halle Hebert.  

     A funny side note is that I actually did try this recipe out months before I had the idea for blogging and sharing these recipes.  It was complete disaster.  All to due with my own inexperience in the kitchen and limited cooking common sense.  I followed the instructions to a 'T', mixing the sauce ingredients and layering everything just as it called for.  Well, the major step I left out was boiling the chicken breasts.  I just put them in the baking dish uncooked.  The instructions didn't mention boiling and I thought everything would naturally all just bake together.  Needless to say I was mistaken and we did not end up eating that dinner.  Although I will say, my husband was a good sport about the whole thing after taking his first bit.  He would have eaten the whole meal just to spare my feelings.  This of course I absolutely did not allow.

     I am happy to say this second go around turned out 100x better.  I ended up cross referencing each recipe and this is how I found out about boiling the chicken.  Trust me it makes all the difference. :)  

     As I mentioned before there were slight differences among the three recipes, mostly having to do with the amount for each ingredient.  Below I decided that I'm going to present a mixture of all three recipes.  This is how made this dish and consolidated the three recipes to one.  

     It really is a delicious and easy dish, give it a try.

Chicken Divan (by M. Hill, M. Ferguson, and H. Hebert)

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen broccoli (14oz), 4 chicken breast, 2 cans of Cream of Chicken Soup (1 regular w/ Herb seasoning, 1 reduced fat), 1 Cup Hellmans' Light Mayonaise, 1 tsp lemon juice (fresh squeezed), 1/4 tsp curry powder, 1 bag of sharp cheddar cheese (8oz), 1/2 cup bread crumbs, and 1 Tbsp butter

Instructions:

Preheat oven: 350*

1. Steam broccoli (about 8 minutes)

2. Boil chicken breast.  I boiled 4 for 20 minutes  

3. Cut up chicken into strips or cubes

4. Mix sauce ingredients together Cream of Chicken Soup, Mayonaise, curry powder, and lemon juice.

5. Layer in 9x13 baking pan- broccoli, chicken, and cover with sauce.

6. Melt 1 Tbsp of butter and mix with bread crumbs.

7. Place bread crumb mixture on top of sauce

8. Place 1 bag of sharp cheddar cheese on top of bread crumbs.  

9. Place baking dish in oven uncovered for 35-40 minutes, until brown and bubbly. 

Enjoy!

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