This meal has been on the docket for quite a while, but I got kind of out of the cooking mood earlier this week.  I’m kind of glad it waited until tonight because it turned out to be the perfect night for a warm, comforting meal.  I’m not sure if you heard, but Kansas got about 37 inches of rain tonight.  OK, I exaggerate, but we got almost 5, and that’s a LOT.  This kind of downpour requires creamy, starchy, comforty food.

It also gave me the perfect opportunity to test out the new rice cooking method I’ve been excited about trying.  I’ve admitted before that I absolutely stink at making rice.  STINK.  I just can’t get it right.  So when I read this post about preparing rice in the oven, I thought, Perfect!  A fool-proof method!  Well, just leave it to this fool to screw it up.  To much liquid I’m presuming.  But luckily, the casserole preparation saved my somewhat wet rice.  And no-one will ever know…

I would classify this dish as relatively simple, but it does have a lot of ingredients so it takes a bit of preparation.  Once you get the rice in the oven, shred some cheese, steam some broccoli, saute a cut-up chicken breast with an onion, smoosh some crackers and…you got all that??  I know, it sounds ridiculous, but its not too terrible, I promise.

OK, so like I said, shred some cheese and smoosh some crackers (or make your husband do it with his giant paws).

And get the broccoli going.  I chop it up into large chunks, then once its steamed, chop it into little chunks.  And just because I’m always saying we don’t eat enough green stuff…look at this green stuff!

And cut the chicken into bite sized chunks.  I just used one chicken breast because its apparently from the largest chicken in the world.  I mean seriously, this thing was at least a D-cup.

And last but not least, the sauce to hold it all together.  Sure I could have probably made a proper white sauce, but its Friday night and haven’t I done enough prep work for this casserole already?  Greg snapped a photo of me in all of my shameful glory.  Opening a can of condensed soup.  Well, you know what? It makes the casserole taste good, so who cares darn it!

So once everything is prepped, just dump it all together, stir it up, and top it with the crushed crackers (or breadcrumbs).  I just combined it all in the dutch oven I used to cook the rice.

Bake for 20 minutes, then serve it up!  A big steaming bowl of this casserole, a good TV show and a thunderstorm.  Could you ask for a better Friday night?  OK, could you ask for a better Friday night if you’re totally old and lame like me?

Prep Ranking: #2 – Weeknight Fare
Tastiness Grade: 8/10, a little bland, but totally yummy and comforting!

Recipe after the jump.  Enjoy on a rainy night with your favorite show!

Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole (serves 4-6)

Oven Rice, adapted from The Wednesday Chef

1.5 cups Rice (I used some plain-old Uncle Ben’s medium grained white rice, but the original recipe calls for long-grained rice)
2 Tbsp Olive Oil or Butter (or a combination of both)
~2-2 1/4 cups Chicken Stock (or water)
1/2 tsp salt – if you use Chicken Stock, omit the salt

In a heavy, oven safe pot (with a tight fitting lid), heat the oil/butter over medium heat and then add the rice.  Stir the rice and cook over medium-high heat until slightly translucent and “nutty” smelling.  Add the water/chicken stock and heat until boiling.  Stir once, then put the lid on and transfer the pot to an oven, preheated to 350F.  Cook for 13 minutes.  Remove the pot from the oven, but do not remove the lid.  Let sit on the counter for 5 minutes.  Then, remove the lid and fluff with a fork.

While the rice is cooking…prepare the rest of the ingredients:

1 large or 2 medium Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 medium Onion, diced
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 large crown Broccoli, cut into large chunks
1/2 cup shredded Cheese, I used a combo of Cheddar and Monteray Jack
1 can condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
about 1/3 of a sleeve (~8-10) buttery crackers, crushed in a zip-top bag

In a skillet, saute the chicken and onion in the olive oil.  Salt and pepper lightly.  Do NOT add too much salt, remember that the cheese, condensed soup and cracker crumbs all contain salt too!  It isn’t crucial to cook the chicken all the way through as it will bake in the oven later.

Separately, steam the broccoli.  Once its just fork tender, chop it into small chunks.

Once the rice is done and fluffed, add the sauteed chicken and onion, the steamed broccoli, the shredded cheese, and the condensed soup.  Stir together to thoroughly mix all the ingredients.  Smooth out the top, then sprinkle the crushed cracker crumbs over the top.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350F.

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