I've been making my husband Bryant this garlicky, soy sauce flavored chicken and broccoli for a long time now and it's one of his all time faves. It's come along way since the first time I made it back in college and it's gotten to the point where it's so damn good that I wanted everyone to be able to try it!!

A few tips: 

• You don't have to, but if you want to go above and beyond, soaking the chicken in a 1 cup water:1 tbsp salt solution (it's called a brine) for an hour or two up to overnight makes the flavor and texture exceptionally amazing and juicy.
• Coating the chicken slices in a few tbsp of cornstarch before cooking them in the skillet with oil makes a huge difference in flavor and texture. The chicken is more soft and browns easier on the edges. It kind of reminds me of the teriyaki chicken I grew up eating and loving from fast food stands at the mall, except this is homemade so it's better for you!
• In order to get the crunchiest broccoli possible, I like to buy a fresh head of broccoli instead of using frozen florets and I barely steam them towards the end so that they don't get soggy.

There are so many different ways to make macaroni and cheese. I typically don't like starting off with a roux (which is a flour and butter mixture that acts as a thickener) but in this case, since the recipe is vegan and it'll need all the thickness it can get. Also, if you don't eat gluten, you could easily use brown rice pasta and then arrowroot or cornstarch in the roux instead of flour. (I used arrowroot starch but I feel like most people don't have that at home so flour is fine.)

For the butter, I used Melt Organic Butter but Miyoko's organic vegan butter is really good too. The brand of cheddar cheese will make a big difference for sure. I would recommend Daiya Foods or Follow Your Heart. I'm sure any dairy-free milk would work but I really like rice milk because it has the least flavor and is super neutral. 

The sauce in this recipe is enough to feed four people decent-sized portions and pairs with an entire box of pasta (around 1 lb.) When I make this recipe, I make a half box of pasta with it (enough for two) an then I save half of the sauce in the fridge so that I can make it again in a few days without all hassle. To reheat it - just pour the cheese on top of cooked pasta in a pot on the stove and let it re-melt. Adding a little splash of rice milk can help the sauce loosen up a little better.