Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

...with vegetables!!

HAHAHA, that title is a little misleading, isn't it? Don't be mad, just eat your veggies and simmer down.

Anyway, I've been really dying to make some comfort food.  I guess I need comfort while sitting outside in the sun looking at pictures of the ice, snow and cold up north.  I guess the theme of the day is "Obnoxious".

So here it is-  again, as with most of my recipes, it's a little bit more involved then opening a can of cream of chicken soup but I promise you, it'll be worth it.  And I promise to give you a few tips at the end for speeding things up and making the recipe a little easier!

Let's get to it, I hope you enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole
Serves 4-6

2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed.  (2 cups rotisserie chicken)
4 cups broccoli (I used 1 cup broccoli, 3 cups zucchini...I ran out of broccoli).
2 cups cooked brown rice (or 1 cup instant rice)

1.5 cups nonfat milk, or original unsweetened almond milk
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat your oven to 375. In a large bowl, combine rice, chicken and vegetables. Make sure the veggies are cut to bite size pieces.

Heat a medium saucepan to medium heat.  Melt the butter and olive oil together, then add the flour.  Keep mixing with a wooden spoon until the flour is cooked and it smells nutty.  Do not walk away!  SLOWWWWLLLY whisk the roux (flour mixture) and add the milk while whisking.  KEEP WHISKING DAMN YOU.   Keep whisking until the milk and roux are totally combined and the mixture starts to bubble and thicken.  Stir for about 3-5 minutes after all the whisking until everything reduces down and starts to look like a creamy sauce.  Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the shredded cheese.  When the cheese is fully combined, pour over the chicken, rice and veggie mixture.
Stir well to combine.  Transfer to an oven safe casserole dish and sprinkle some whole wheat bread crumbs on top.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Tips-To make this a little bit more user friendly (but certainly less tasty) just stir all the ingredients together, leaving out the flour and butter.  Stir well and add to the baking dish, bake for an hour.

(21 Day Fixers- I measured 1.5 green containers as one portion, which came out to roughly 1 green, 1.5 yellow, 1/2 red, 1 blue, 1.5 tsp)

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