Colorful Chicken Casserole

Colorful Chicken Casserole Created by chance, April 2025 to use up leftover rice, beccause I do not know how to make a small amount of rice. 3-4 cups leftover rice About 12 ounces chopped, cooked chicken ½ - 1 cup chicken broth 1 16 oz. bag mixed vegetables 1 teaspoon Fines Herbes* divided ½ teaspoon rosemary divided ½ teaspoon thyme, divided ½ teaspoon granulated onion 1 can cream of chicken soup ½ - 1 cup grated Swiss cheese Cook vegetables to gender crisp with ½ tsp Fines Herbes, ¼ tsp rosemary, ¼ tsp thyme. Drain vegetables and mix with leftover rice. Add remaining herbs (which can be adjusted to taste), chicken, broth, cream of chicken soup and Swiss cheese. Mix to combine. Refrigerate if making ahead. Bake casserole tightly covered at 350 foor about 40 minutes if baking right after mixing, or about 1 hour if baking from refrigeration. This is easy to make in the morning and pop in the oven when you are too tired to cook dinner later in the day. *Fines Heerbes is a spice blend of chervil, minced parsley flakes, chopped chives and French tarragon. Click the link for ordering info, or search Amazon.

Spanish Rice & Quinoa

We love Spanish Rice at our house.  Over the years my recipe has evolved and the newest version is gluten-free. (In the past I had added a can of cream of something soup and that is now off limits. Replacing the ground beef of the past with quinoa is another change I have made recently.)  I am never sure how spicy to make it since tastes vary greatly here, but tonight I hit a nice balance, receiving positive comments from the husband who doesn’t like too much spice AND the future son-in-law who can’t ever have too much spice! 

Here is my best guess at the recipe that is measured by  a “bit of this and a bit of that.”  You can adjust to your tastes. It is a large recipe, but we like the leftovers!!

Ingredients

• 3 cups long-grain rice
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1 – 1 ½  cups chopped onion
• ½ - 1 chopped red or yellow pepper
• 1 44fl oz. container V-8 juice with water added to make 8 cups.
• 1 tablespoon beef base
• 1 tsp. Ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp. celery flakes
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley or cilantro
• 1 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper
• grated Mexican blend cheese

Sauté onions and peppers until tender.  Add rice to the sauté pan and cook till light golden brown, stirring often to prevent burning.  Stir in V-8 juice, beef base and herbs.  Stir in rinsed quinoa.  Transfer to a baking dish that holds about 4 quarts.

Cover tightly with foil and bake at 400° for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Serve in bowls topped with grated Mexican blend cheese.

Cooking for Two

Before our house fills up again in September Dave and I will experience a season practicing for an empty nest. Jack has his own apartment, Elisa, Scott, Meg and Tim will all be at camp and we will be home alone! It has its good points as well as the bad.

One drawback I have discovered is that after feeding a family for 28 years I don't know how to cook for two. Nor do I have any casseroles or baking dishes that are right for two portions. I tried to make a casserole today and it looks like we will be having wild rice and chicken at lunch for a while! I was wanting something warm and creamy for dinner since here on the 4th of June it is 62 degrees F! So with the ingredients I had on hand, this is what I came up with.


Wild Rice and Chicken Casserole

• 1 package of wild rice mix
• 1/2 cup long grain rice
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1-2 cups cooked chicken
• 1 package steamer vegetables
• 1 8 oz. package grated Swiss cheese
• 1/4 tsp. dill

Microwave rice mix, seasoning and rice 12 minutes on high power, then 20 minutes on 50% power.

Microwave one package of Steamer veggies of your choice. I used a broccoli, carrot, edamame mix.

Mix the hot rice and vegetables with some cooked chicken, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup chicken broth, dill and 8 oz. grated Swiss cheese. Top with buttered bread crumbs if you like them. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes until the sauce us bubbly.

This makes enough food for 4-6 people... definitely overestimated on that one! But it is a filling dish that stretches a little bit of chicken.