Did They Eat It: Chicken Casserole Edition.

This is a casserole my friend Jean used to make for me to serve when I babysat for her kids or for dinner when I lived in their basement in my early 20's. ("Hi, I'm Melissa....I live in the basement.") I love it and, when Max was a baby I used to make it for he and I to share because he loved it too.

Logan does not like it, you see it contains 1/4 cup of mayonnaise. If you divide a 1/4 cup of mayo into an 8 serving dish, that means you're eating like 1/2 a tablespoon of mayonnaise and that is enough to kill a man.

Logan is out of town though, ha ha! So I decided to mix it up for the kids and I. I thought, given Max's babyhood love of this dish I'd get at least a 2 out of 3.

This is the sort of dish which would be easiest to make if you had extra chicken from another dish and 2 cups of rice leftover as well. I had neither of these things so I made the rice and used cooked diced chicken I purchase from our school's fund raising food place, Market Day.

2 C. cooked rice
1/4 C. The Devil's Sandwich Spread AKA Mayonnaise
1/2 C. chopped onion
1 T butter (if sauteing your onion first)
1 pack frozen spinach
Cream of something soup (chicken, mushroom, celery...it's a wild card!)
1/2 t. curry
Cooked diced chicken (what ever you have)
Cheddar cheese (to sprinkle on top)
Salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp)

Cook and drain spinach. Combine rice, onions, soup, mayo, a little salt, curry, chicken and spinach in a bowl. Put in casserole and sprinkle cheese on top. Cook to warm through at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Here is a picture of it before I put the cheese on top. It tastes better than it looks in the lackluster light of my kitchen.

DID THEY EAT IT!?

Me: "I love this. I love this. I love this. I'm going to bath in it. I love curry. I need iron. I love this."

Madison: "What (fake gag) is (fake gag) this (fake gag)?" She ends up eating 4 bites of chicken after I separate it from the rest of the casserole. She gags it down drinking a 1/4 of her milk in between each bite.

Maxwell: Our conversation: Me: "You used to love this when you were a baby. I'd make it for you and I and Daddy and Maddie would have boring peanut butter sandwiches for dinner." Him: "Ha! So I liked this when I was a baby? I can't wait to try it."
At dinner: "What is this green stuff on it? Bleh (flick) Bleh (flick) (Spinach flies every where.) I'm not eating anything but the chicken but first I'm going to wipe all this gross green stuff off it with a napkin.

Verdict: 1 out of 3 people at our table enjoyed this. Which means I better enjoy it since I'm going to be eating it for lunch and dinner for the next 3-4 days until it's gone.

I used cream of chicken soup this time and I think I'd go back to cream of celery to give it an extra flavor. I also sauteed the onion this time and enh. It didn't add much so I'd probably skip that step as I always have in the past.

Comments

[Fer]

Market Day is great. I use the diced chicken for everything from chicken a la king to chicken & broccoli fettucini alfredo!

[bigpikchur.blogspot.com]

YUM! It's funny what kids won't eat when they can see there is some kind of green leafy thing on their plate. At most family gatherings, someone brings spinach dip and when my now teenage nephews were little they would see everyone converge on it, which led to them ask what it was before they would try it; because they are suspicious of anything green and leafy. I told them it was 'candy dip' and they actually loved it. I know it's a little wrong, but I'm their aunt so I'm allowed to lie in situations like that. Right?
Jules
House of Jules

[heartfull]

You are brave. I would never make a dinner that mixed the spinach in with everything else, thus insuring that only the adults in my household would eat it. Sigh.

What I can't believe is how picky my 3rd is at 28 months. He won't go near a veggie unless it is corn.

Anyways, that sounds like something *I* would love! If I lived in Detroit, I would come over for lunch today and help you finish it off (because I know how sucky it is to have a fridge full of dinner leftovers and feel compelled to eat it for lunch and dinner until it is gone. Why am I the only adult in the house who feels this way?)

[littlepurple]

I'm going to a potluck tomorrow and I have been searching for inspiration for a dish.. and I think i found it!
I'm gong to try it with morningstar's fake chicken strips.
woo woo!

[Mrs Ca]

I have a similar casserole recipe that uses sour cream instead of mayonaise and broccoli instead of spinach. There may be some orange juice in the sauce too. I can share it if you'd like, since I know you said you and yours are broccoli fans.

[Strizz]

My Gram used to make me spinach and rice , no chicken meat just stock so it was brothy, and I loved it. YUMMY

http://sanctitysabbatical.blogspot.com/

Would they like broccoli better? Maybe try chicken divan, which is layered so the green stuff isn't all mixed in. It's easy with some egg noodles or bread on the side.

[Abbykins]

Yeahhhh!! I LOVE "did they eat it"! It's been too long!

[Zookins]

For some odd reason, I would now kill for a spoonful of tuna casserole. With peas.

[Bliss658]

I love anything casserole with cream of soup - my husband gives me so much crap about it, but hey it's comfort food for me!

[tracy3906]

This makes me want to cry. I have 3 kids and a husband. I'm not sure who's the pickiest. I've cooked dinner 4 nights this week and not once did I fix something that more than 2 people at the table like. Until tonight when it was fend for yourself for adults and mac n cheese for kids.

[Thank you for antidepressants]

Love your blog!

Question: what Market Day program does your school participate in? It sounds great. But, I live in KS, so the we-only-sell-fundraisers-that-provide-shit gods will probably veto it.

Thanks!

[Rayne of Terror]

I made this for dinner tonight.

I used a rotisserie chicken, brown rice, cream of celery, quadrupled (at least) the curry, and sauted the onions w/ more curry powder.

It went over like gangbusters here. There's only one serving left and we're only three people. Thank you!

[kate]

I have a similar chicken'n'rice casserole recipe. Sounds like we all do! Sub the mayo for milk, and the spinach with diced celery (that I sautee with the onion).

Actually, truth be told, my *mom's* recipe calls for celery. Which I can take a pass on. So I throw in frozen peas just before baking. I'm a cheese addict, so I mix some in as well as top it off. And then throw on french fried onions for crunch.

I've got half a roasted chicken from last night. I think this will be dinner tonight . . . :-D

[Allison aka HaselBride]

YAY! Did they eat it is back!

[Assertagirl]

I just finished making this for my husband for dinner tonight, since I'm going to be out. He just has to put it in the oven. I hope he likes it! He loves curry and usually really likes comfort food and simple, yummy dishes.

Thanks for posting this recipe!

[BookMamma]

Ok, after going pack to this post 3x I am now writing it out in my recipe book.
I know LOTS of chicken casserole recipes, but this one? Rocks. Maybe its the curry... and it freezes well too!

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