Bev’s Chicken Casserole

Here is a wonderful casserole that’s tasty and comforting and the recipe is flexible enough that you can swap out ingredients if you don’t have something on hand. For instance, you can use cooked turkey, leftover store-bought broiled chicken, canned cooked chicken, or even canned water-packed albacore for the protein. For the bread cubes, you can substitute crumbled cornbread or even cooked pasta noodles. From icdietproject.com

Bev’s Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups chicken broth (low-sodium, MSG-free and without problem ingredients), divided
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using broth that’s not low-sodium)
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 dash white pepper (optional)
1/3 medium red onion, chopped & pre-fried as above (or 1 tsp. onion powder)
1-1/2 cups half-inch size, soft bread cubes or cornbread crumbs or cooked pasta noodles (without problem ingredients)
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons frozen peas or frozen carrots (optional)
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives (if tolerated)
1 tablespoon Panko bread crumbs (optional)
Non-stick cooking spray


Directions:

In a medium saucepan melt the butter. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour until it is all absorbed. Return the pan to low heat and gradually stir in 1 cup of the chicken broth and all the milk until the sauce is thickened (don’t boil). Stir in the salt, garlic powder, pepper and onion (or onion powder). Remove from the heat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine bread cubes, cornbread crumbs, or noodles with the chopped celery in a bowl. Pour the remaining 1/4-cup of chicken broth over the mixture and gently toss. Spray a 10-inch square or 12×8-inch casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place half the chicken pieces in the bottom of the dish. Cover with half the celery mixture. Sprinkle on the frozen peas or carrots. Top with the remaining chicken, then the remaining celery mixture. Pour the sauce over all and sprinkle the top with chopped chives and Panko crumbs (if desired).

Cover with foil or a heat-proof lid and bake at 350 degrees F. until hot and bubbly, about 30 to 35 minutes. Serves 4.