Chicken & Vegetable Bake [GF]

With the weather starting to cool here in Australia, I thought I’d introduce you to one of my favourite winter meals, chicken and vegetable bake.

This meal is not only comforting in the cooler months, but it’s packed full of vitamins, fibre, protein and calcium. It’s also wonderful for your gut health thanks to the wide variety of vegetables. If you’ve read my post on gut health, you’ll know that eating a wide variety of plant foods each week results in a more diverse, and resilient, gut microbiome.

The combination and ratio of vegetables in this recipe is my personal favourite, but it’s a great recipe to experiment with. Feel free to get creative and add in your favourite veggies!

Serves: approx. 8

Ingredients

2 zucchini, cut into half moons

2-3 medium carrots, sliced

1 medium potatoes, cut into 1-2cm cubes

1/2 medium sweet potato, cut into 1-2cm cubes

3-4 cups of pumpkin, cut into 1-inch cubes

1.5 cups of broccoli florets

1.5 cups of cauliflower florets

2-3 chicken breasts, cut into cubes

1 cup of leek, chopped

4 cups of milk + extra

1 tbsp butter (I used Nuttelex)

4 tbsp cornflour (gluten free)

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried chives

Garlic-infused olive oil (or olive oil and chopped garlic)

How to Make

White Sauce:

1. Add 4 cups of milk and 1 tbsp of butter to a sauce pan and place on high heat. Bring to the boil and then simmer.
2. Place 4 tbsp of cornflour in a bowl and slowly add milk until it becomes a paste. Add this to the saucepan and stir constantly.
3. Once the mixture has thickened, stir in 1 cup of grated cheese.

Chicken & Vegetable Bake:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius.
2. Cook the chicken with leek and olive oil.
3. Lightly steam all the vegetables.
4. Add the vegetables and chicken to a glass baking tray (mine was 33cm by 23cm).
5. Pour the white sauce over the vegetables and chicken.
6. Top with cheese, salt, pepper and dried chives.
7. Bake until golden brown (approximately 25-30 mins).
8. Enjoy!

Note: you could also add some chopped bacon to this recipe for added flavour.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chanté Louise, APD Dietitian & Nutritionist (@dietitianchante)

I hope you love it as much as I do! It makes such a great meal-prepping option through the cooler months! If you make it and share it online, feel free to tag me: @chantelouisee or @dietitianchante 🩵

Until next time,

Chanté