Maggie Monday: Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Recently the Ranting Wife and I have been looking at rugs and carpet. One style that I kept on seeing over and over was a lighter color carpet with a mixture of occasional light and dark brown fibers. I started calling it the “long grain and wild rice” carpet style. As Maggie reminds us below, it is much better to eat wild rice than it is to walk upon it. Here’s Maggie…..

Winter is the best time for hearty casseroles, and this is a good one. It takes some time to prep, but was really good. We had leftovers for days, and no one tired of it.

This is another great use for a store bought Rotisserie Chicken. Just makes life so much easier. If I didn’t already have a great spouse I think I would marry the person who had the idea to have these chickens available in every supermarket. I love him/her. With all my heart.

You can also make this with leftover Turkey.

Anyhow, I digress. Everyone other than picky daughter #2 enjoyed this meal. It will be a great dish to take to a pot-luck, or for friends and neighbors that need a good meal- new baby? Recovering from injury? New neighbor? Make this and you’ll be their new BFF.

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

What you need:

1 6-8oz package of long grain and wild rice mix. I used Rice-a-Roni brand

1 medium onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 Tbs butter

1 small can chicken with rice soup, or cream of chicken soup

½ cup sour cream

1/3 cup white wine

2 Tbs snipped fresh basil (or 1.2 tsp dried basil)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

What you do:

Prepare rice according to package directions. Preheat oven to 350Õ. In a large skillet cook onion and celery in the butter over medium heat until tender. Stir in soup, sour cream, wine, and basil. Stir in cooked chicken and prepared rice.

Transfer mixture to a greased 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered for about 35 minutes or until heated through.