Monday, January 16, 2012

Crock Pot Recipe Day 11

Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole
From Fix It & Forget It Big Cookbook
Page 344

Makes 8 servings
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 3-7 hours
Ideal slow cooker size 6 qt

1 c. long grain rice, uncooked All I had was minute rice or Rice a Roni.  So, I found a long grain & wild rice rice a roni & used that.  It wasn't quite a full cup, so I pulled Spanish Rice Rice A Roni to fill the remainder of the cup.  I think it would have turned out better had I used either all long grain & wild rice Rice a Roni or regular long grain rice.
3 cups water I feel like this was a smidge too much.  I'd go 2 3/4 next time
2 tsp low sodium chicken boullion granules
10 3/4 oz can fat free, low sodium cream of chicken soup Pretty sure you could substitute cream of mushroom if you wanted too
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts and it was approximately 2 medium and 1 small piece of chicken.  I cooked them and then cut them into about 1 inch pieces and threw them back in the pan until I could no longer see any pink.
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion salt I didn't have onion salt so I just threw in some dried onion flakes
1 c. shredded, fat free cheddar cheese I was worried about putting this in at the beginning like it says to.  It turned out fine.  However, if you want to know the cheese is in there and have it be cheesy, don't put it in until about the same time as the broccoli.
16 oz bag frozen broccoli, thawed I used a 12 oz bag and I threw it in frozen.  I'm pretty sure that it would be fine to substitute another vegetable if you don't like broccoli.

1. Combine all ingredients except broccoli in slow cooker.

2. One hour before end of cooking time, stir in broccoli.

3. Cook on high for a total of 3-4 hours or on low for a total of 6-7 hours.  I did low for about 3-4 hours.

The only thing I wasn't happy about is how the rice turned out.  It was cooked, it just seemed a little mushy almost.  Not sure if it's because it was too much water or from the vermacilli in the Rice a Roni.  It was edible and tasted fine, but I'd do something different with the rice next time.  This time I just used what I had on hand though.  My husband makes a dish very similar to this in the dutch oven.  What he does different however is that there is no cheese and he leaves the chicken in whole pieces (the entire breast).  He also uses cream of mushroom instead of cream of chicken.  Pretty good though and the kids DID eat it.