Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Herbed Chicken Casserole

It is the rare occasion when I give myself the day off, but I did just that on Sunday, spending the entire day in front of the fire beneath my favorite ruby red, fleece-lined throw watching the mystery movie marathon on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel. No one does fluffy mysteries quite like Hallmark, and while some of them are a bit camp for my taste they are nonetheless lighthearted, mindless fun and I truly enjoyed myself. During the commercials I put together this comforting casserole that used to be one of my favorites growing up.  I had lost the recipe decades ago, but came across it last month while going through my mother's recipe box.

As a kid I remember being quite wary of the wormy look of the baked chow mein noodles, the memory of which made me smile while enjoying it this time.  Despite the sophistication of my tastes over the years, I found that I still loved this homey dish from its crunchy topping to the smooth and creamy interior. Yes, it contains two cans of the evil condensed soup (What recipe from the seventies didn't?), but I like to think that I redeemed myself with a healthy side salad tossed with a light 
vinaigrette.

Herbed Chicken Casserole

3 cups cooked and diced chicken
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup whole milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can chicken with rice soup
1 medium can chow mein noodles

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix together above ingredients and spread evenly in the bottom of a 9" x 9" pan. Make topping and spread evenly over the top and bake for 1 hour.

Topping

1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup butter
1-1/2 cup Pepperidge Farm Herb Dressing

Melt butter in a 10" sauté pan. Stir in almonds and dressing, and sauté until lightly brown and crispy.


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8 comments:

  1. This looks so good! That topping - I can almost taste it.

    Mom used to make the most tantalizing casseroles, all of them involving cream of something soup. One of the more unusual ones was a hamburger stroganoff-ish "sauce" served over the same chow mein crunchy noodles. It was delicious, and you just reminded me I need to make it. ;)

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  2. This looks scrumptious! Pinned!

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  3. I love a good casserole! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!

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  4. Your Herbed Chicken Casserole looks fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week and come back to see us real soon!
    Miz Helen

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  5. Your casserole looks absolutely delicious. Perfect for these cold and snowy nights here in PA. Thanks for linking up with "Try a New Recipe Tuesday." Hope you can join us again this week. http://our4kiddos.blogspot.com/2015/02/try-new-recipe-tuesday-23.html

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  6. Patty, your casserole was the most-viewed feature at last week's FF&EE party. It looks delicious and summons so many memories.

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  7. I saw your dish on Foodie Friday and had to come over a see more about it. Sounds divine and very comforting and I like that you can freeze it in individual servings. Hope your husband is improving too.
    Sam

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  8. Sounds yummy! I make a similar dish with stuffing on the top. I love your addition of crunch from the nuts. Thank you for sharing it and your german chocolate cake at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a great week!
    Blessings, Deborah

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Thank you so much for commenting, I love every one of them! I am, however, unable to respond to anonymous comments.