Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

  One of my favorite blogs is the Picky Palate.  This woman is a mother of three boys and LOVES to cook and bake.  The first ever recipe I tried by her were Kiss Pies last Thanksgiving.  Which makes me think I'll have to try them again soon.  But anyways, the first dinner I stumbled across happened to be Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice. http://picky-palate.com/2010/09/13/cheesy-chicken-and-wild-rice-casserole/ It has become a staple in our home.  It's actually a very healthy recipe minus all of the cheddar cheese.  But seriously, if you are looking for a kid friendly recipe that has vegetables, this is the one for you. 

  Although this recipe is not at all hard to put together, the one downfall is the half hour it takes to cook your chicken and rice, and chop your veggies.  How you cook your chicken is up to you.  You can bake it, cook it in a skillet or poach it in a pot of water/chicken stock.  The recipe calls for two different kinds of rice: wild and white rice.  I use brown rice because it is much healthier for you. This also requires time and two bowls or pans to cook these rices.  You can easily make a shortcut by getting quick cooking rice, using all wild rice, all white rice, or all brown rice.  It's really up to your palate and time schedule.  

  The easiest way to consolidate these tasks is to do as follows.  Poach/Bake your chicken for 30 minutes at 350.  As soon as your chicken goes in the oven, start your wild rice on the stove top.  Most I've found take about 25 minutes. As soon as that's done chop your veggies and then as soon as your done start your Minute Brown Rice in the microwave.  It should all be done at the same time. 

So.. here it goes. 

Here's just about everything you need. Besides salt, pepper, and flour. 

You'll need:

1 box of wild rice

2 cups of cooked brown/white rice

2 cups of shredded/chopped cooked chicken

1 medium size onion, diced

3 stalks of celery, diced

3 carrots, diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper

For cheese sauce:

4 tbs butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups of chicken stock

2-3 cups of cheddar cheese, shredded

Put your veggies into a hot skillet with a few tablespoons of butter, oil, or olive oil.  I use olive oil for just about everything.  Cook them until they're soft, for about 10 minutes.  Unless you like your veggies crunchy it's very important to let them cook for at least 10 minutes. 

Add your shredded chicken, salt and pepper and stir all of that yummy goodness together for a few minutes. 

Here is the part that's up for negotiation.  You can add the rice into your pan or put the rice and chicken-veggie mixture into a big bowl like I did. 

Now it's time to make that yummy cheese sauce.  Melt butter in a medium saucepan and make a roux with the flour. SLOOOOOWLY add the chicken stock, whisking constantly.  Give it a few minutes to do it's magic and thicken and then take it off the heat and stir in your cheese until it's all creamy and dreamy looking. Put this whole gooey mixture in a greased 9x13 casserole dish and sprinkle with some more cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350.  

Ashton and Chris and I gobble this up every time.  It makes really good leftovers as well.  It's got lots of good stuff in it and it's sure to be a crowd pleaser.