Chicken w/ Wild Rice Casserole

Whew!! It's been a busy 2 weeks!!! Soccer is over, trophies are handed out and all-stars have been chosen.  Which means that 3 out of 5 nights we can have family dinner again. We still have football and it looks like we are headed to the playoffs!!  Fort Payne Wildcats are 10 - 0 and have one game left in the regular season.  Good news for the team, bad news for family dinner..... We've been surviving on Grilled cheese and canned soup lately, which beats fast food or ball park hot dogs any day.

 My mom makes a chicken & rice casserole that's a lot like this one and we love it.  This casserole is great for cold winter nights.  Hope you like it!!!


Recipe for Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole
adapted from the blog: The Secret Life of a Chef's Wife.



4 table­spoons butter
1 medium-large onion; chopped
6 stalks cel­ery; chopped
6 car­rots; peeled and chopped
4 (14.5oz.) cans low-sodium chicken broth–or 7 1/2 cups home­made broth
1 (6oz.) box Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice (with sea­son­ing packet)
2 1/2 cups whole milk (or equiv­a­lent mix­ture of milk and cream depend­ing on your desired fat content)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups cooked, cubed chicken (roast­ing in the oven is perfect!)
salt to taste
pep­per to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup sliv­ered almonds
1/2 cup cooked, chopped bacon (optional)
In a large, heavy pot, melt but­ter and add the onions, cel­ery, and car­rots. Saute until slightly soft; 8 min­utes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat to a sim­mer and add the con­tents of the box of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice. Cover and cook 15 minutes.
Mean­while, heat the 1/4 cup but­ter in a small saucepan. When just bub­bling, add the 1/4 cup all pur­pose flour. Whisk together and cook over medium heat, con­tin­u­ing to whisk, for 3–5 min­utes. Don’t let this roux get overly brown, just slightly golden. Set aside.
When soup is done sim­mer­ing, add the milk or milk and cream mix­ture. Cook 10 more min­utes on low until rice has fin­ished cook­ing. Bring back to a low boil and add the roux (butter/flour mix­ture) and cook, stir­ring until soup thick­ens. Add cooked, cubed chicken. Add salt and pep­per to taste. Serve with fresh pars­ley and sliv­ered almonds sprin­kled on top. And another hold-over from my orig­i­nal recipe: toss a lit­tle cooked, chopped bacon on the top as well!
**Add other veg­eta­bles if desired: broc­coli, cau­li­flower, peas, corn.…