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Mom's Chicken and Rice Casserole

A month of recipes from others just would not be complete without one of mom's! I've been making this dish ever since I first left the nest and it's still one of our favorites. A blend of simple ingredients, this casserole is surprisingly tasty. Plus, it can go from a 45min casserole to a 10min meal if you use pre-cooked or left-over ingredients!


[Prep: 5min / Cook: 40min]

Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 cups rice
- 1 can cream of chicken and mushroom or cream of chicken and herb soup
- 1 cup water
- black pepper

Steps
1. Boil the rice.
2. Meanwhile, either grill or boil the chicken. Boiling is best for chicken that shreds easily, but takes longer.
3. Preheat the oven to 350/400F.
4. Cut up the chicken and mix together with the rice, soup, water and a hefty dose of black pepper.
5. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and pour the mixture in.  Cook for 10-15 minutes or until bubbly.
6. Ready to eat!

[Serves 2]

Variations

• If you want to add a bit more umph to this dish, you can add some veggies like onions and mushrooms or peas and carrots.
• This also comes out quite nicely on the stove-top. Instead of baking, mix all of the ingredients together in a big bowl and stir for a few minutes until it reaches the consistency you prefer.
• And, if you're like me and stuck in a place where you have to travel for an hour and pay €3 for a can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken & Mushroom, you can easily whip up your own. Just substitute 1 cup of chicken broth for the water or dissolving a chicken stock/bullion cube in the cup of water. Then just mix it with a cup of typical mushroom soup.

Erin's Chickpea Salad

I've been holding on to this recipe for awhile and I am so glad that Erin shared it with me. This is a fresh and very healthy side dish that could jazz up any number of simple entrées. And aside from a bit of chopping, it's incredibly easy to whip up.


[Cook: -- / Prep: 15-20min]

Ingredients

- 1 onion
- 1 cucumber
- 2 tomatoes
- 1/2 large red, orange or yellow bell pepper
- 1 can chickpeas (about 8-10oz)
- dash each of salt and pepper
- 1 Tbs olive oil


Steps

1. Rinse and drain the chickpeas.
2. Chop the onion, cucumber, tomatoes and bell pepper.
3. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and stir until evenly mixed and coated with the olive oil.
4. Ready to eat!

[Serves 2]

Notes

• For this sort of dish, the proportions are completely up to you. Plus, with vegetables always varying in size, the proportions listed above are just a really rough guide.
• Similarly, you need not stop at these veggies alone. Especially for the vegetarians out there, you can expand this dish into a small meal with the addition of other classic Greek ingredients like feta cheese and olives.
• This recipe yields quite a bit of food, so I served it as both the meal's carbohydrate and veggie portion...and the whole amount disappeared.  

Suggested Entrées

• Grilled chicken with lemon juice and oregano yogurt sauce.
• Spicy or curried chicken, fish, lamb or mutton.
• Rani's Greek Chicken Kabobs