Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

I was watching Trisha Yearwood’s show on the Food Network. She made a chicken and rice casserole that looked really good so I thought I would give it a try. It was truly yummy! The family liked it a lot. I’ve made it a couple of times since then, but of course, with some minor changes to the original recipe. I added a little more parsley for one thing. I also don’t bother chopping the slivered almonds. The biggest change I made, though, was to add a topping. My kids wanted the dish to have a crunchy topping. What is it with kids and crunchy toppings? So I made a mixture of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, sprinkled it over the top, and voila!

CHICKEN AND WILD RICE CASSEROLE

• 2 (6-oz.) boxes Uncle Ben’s long-grain and wild rice mix
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing dish
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 16 ozs. fresh mushrooms, sliced (or 2 (4½ oz.) cans sliced mushrooms, drained (reserve the liquid)
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 4 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, diced
• 1 cup toasted slivered almonds
• ½ cup sliced pimientos
• ⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• 2 cups plain bread crumbs
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook the long-grain and wild rice mixes according to the package directions. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish.
3. In a large pot, melt the butter.
4. Add the onions and mushrooms, and sauté until the onions are translucent.
5. Stir in the flour, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Stir in the broth (and reserved canned mushroom liquid if using) into the onion mixture, then stir in the half-and-half.
7. Cook until the mixture has thickened, 7 to 10 minutes.
8. Add the chicken, rice, toasted almonds, pimientos, parsley, salt, and pepper.
9. Pour everything into the prepared casserole dish.
10. In a small bowl, mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese until well combined.
11. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over top of casserole.
12. Bake about 30 to 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

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