Midwestern USA

I've held off on rating this for awhile because I always think I'll make it as written one day, but I just love using this for leftover beef cuts. Steaks and roasts, if I have at least a pound and a half of cooked beef I cube it up and follow the recipe as-written, throwing the bay leaf and barley into the mix and cooking until the barley is done. Like all my soups I do saute the veggies, I really miss the flavor notes that provides when I don't. I typically use broth, adding whatever juice or gravy my leftovers might have. This is probably the best and most impressive leftover-utilizing recipe I use. Thanks very much for sharing.

Super delicious, and it really does just take 20 minutes. I was looking at different Chicken Broccoli Divan recipes and settled on this one because it had fresh broccoli and uncooked chicken (what I had) and was stovetop. Because I was looking around I misread this recipe and used a can of cheese broccoli soup: we liked it, I could see using chicken if I wanted lots of cheese on top or more chicken flavor to fit whatever sides I was serving with it. Using broccoli cheese we didn't feel it even needed shredded cheese on top. I followed the milk portion as stated and thought it made plenty sauce. I might even use sour cream instead to make it super creamy, but this recipe needs no changes to be wonderful. I felt like I needed a zip this particular evening so I added some red pepper flakes: purely preference. This is what I'll make for lean protein and veggies alongside say, sinfully rich mac and cheese: thanks for sharing :)