Chicken & Rice Bake, a la Raineth
I made a fricking fantastic lunch, thanks to my endeavor to clean out/defrost my upright freezer.
I had a decent morning-- didn't cough & hack troo much. I'm still very sore, very slow-moving, and not in the best of shape, but much better than yesterday.
3 boneless, skinless chicken boobs, sliced or cut into medium-sized chunks
1 can muschrooms w/juice, or 1 pkg fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 c. Minute Rice
1 c. moo
1 c. water
1 can cream of chicken
1 c. frozen, uncooked veggies- such as green beans.
1 small onion, chopped fine
1/2 c. or so of French's onions, crumbled.
1 TBSP butter or oil
dried oregano, parsley, Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, dried chipotle pepper
Preheat oven to 350.
In a medium heavy pan, heat butter/oil. Quickly stir-fry chicken with onions, adding a pinch each of parsley, oregano & chipotle pepper. Grind 1/4 tsp or so pepper over chicken, and add a small pich of salt. Cook just until flesh turns white; remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, combine soup, mushrooms, rice, milk, & water. Add cooked chicken & green beans, stirring gently. Mixture should have the consistency of a stew-- neither watery nor everly thick. Taste to further adjust seasonings.
Into a separate buttered 2 or 3-qt. casserole (shalower=less time cooking), add chicken mixture. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 munites. At end of 30" take out casserole, remove foil & add generous amount of fried onions. Cook, uncovered, for additional 10 minutes, or until onions have become crispy-brown.
The idea here is to cook the rice & warm up the chicken. If you fear disaster, cook your rice & chicken & such in advance, and then just cook the mixture for a shorter period of time. Ihaven't tried it-- but I would say maybe 20 minutes to warm it up from an unrefrigerated state, then five minutes at the end for the onions.
Next time I make this, I will probably add a glove of minced/crushed garlic, another 1/2 c. of veggies- maybe a different type, too- and just a little more salt. I'm weary of over-salting, and usually prefer ro t leave food to be salted "at-table." I might also fry up a wee piece of bacon & crumble it in. Mmmm, good! I have plenty for my meal at work, too.
And speaking of which... it's time to get my slow arse in gear & get ready to go.
Cheers & All