In my family, there is an unofficial rule: On Mondays and Tuesdays, we eat chicken for dinner. One of my parents goes grocery shopping on Sunday and buys everything we need for the week, which includes chicken not only for us, but the dogs too. The beginning of the week is usually tiring and cooking chicken does not require too much effort, especially if it is already cooked when you buy it. It is relatively healthy and nobody has to leave the house to get dinner. Since my family uses chicken in a lot of our cooking, it makes sense that it would be a part of my favorite meal. My favorite meal is chicken divan.
Source: https://www.campbells.com/kitchen/recipes/chicken-broccoli-divan/
My mom usually does the cooking in the house, and she makes the best chicken divan. I have eaten it for as long as I can remember; I believe my first memory with the dish was when I was about five. I sat at the table in the garage of my grandparents’ old house on Easter day. I remember tasting the tangy and savory mix, and deciding that I actually did not like it that much. Over the years, of course, I have come to love it. It has brought me more memories. During elementary school, I would smell the dish from the kitchen while I watched cartoons in the living room. When I was in middle school, I had my braces removed on my twelfth birthday. My parents let me choose what we ate for dinner that night, and I chose chicken divan. Eating with braces is not the most easy or sanitary of practices, so I was excited to be able to eat it without having to fish out the broccoli and chicken stuck in between the brackets of my braces later. In high school, I sat at the kitchen table with my family and ate the dish quickly, then went back upstairs to try to finish some homework assignments I had been ignoring.
Pictured: My family and I gathered around a small chocolate cake on my first birthday.
Since my mom makes this dish so well, I asked her if she attaches any emotional significance to it. She replied, “I had brought Devon to my cousin Patty’s house on a snow day and she made it for dinner. I liked it, so I asked for the recipe. It is nostalgic to me and reminds me of a great time in my life.” The “great time in [her] life” that she refers to dates back to about 20 years ago, when my older brother, Devon, was a toddler and some members of our extended family were still living here in Maine.
My mother’s favorite meal, however, is not chicken divan; it is salmon, broccoli, and brown rice. She explains the significance that this meal holds for her: “I used to come home from school, do my chores, and start cooking dinner since both of my parents worked. My dad always used to dip the broccoli in vinegar, and then I started doing it.” My grandfather truly appreciated food and wanted everyone else to enjoy it in the way he did, which is something my family and I miss very much about him.
Pictured: My grandfather at around 20 years old, holding my infant mother as well as a birthday cake.
I remember helping my mom cook on thanksgiving every year and I really looked forward to it; I asked her if she had any favorite memories of cooking with me. She responded, “I liked when we used to bake and decorate cakes.” My brothers and I used to pick out what kind of cake and decorations we wanted at the store and then go home, bake the cake, and decorate it together. With that came some arguments among the three of us, but we had a lot of fun being together.
Pictured: My older brother and I posing with the gingerbread houses we decorated for Christmas.
My favorite meal has shaped my way of thinking. It has made me recognize the importance of spending time with family. It has also made me appreciate the small things in life, such as being able to watch cartoons on the couch while eating dinner off of a foldable T.V. tray in the living room. Food plays a big role in bringing people together, and it is important that people recognize this.
Pictured: Me sitting on our old leather couch and eating toast off of a T.V. tray around the year 2002.
Recipe
Ingredients:
6 boiled chicken breast, 4 cups of steamed chopped broccoli, 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 2 cups mayo, juice from two squeezed lemons, 2 tbs of cumin, 12 oz package shredded cheddar cheese, 3 cups bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, boil chicken, boil broccoli in a separate pan. Combine soup, mayo, cumin, & lemon. Cut chicken into small cubes, add chicken & broccoli to mixture, pour in a casserole dish, spread cheddar cheese and bread crumbs on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese melts.
