Creamy Chicken Rice Casserole
 
 
THM:E, Low-fat, Sugar free, Gluten/Egg/Peanut free - does contain chickpeas, and watch ingredients for contamination
Author:
Serves: 10-15
Ingredients
  • 10 cups water
  • 1½ cups brown rice
  • 3 lb. chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • ½-1 lb. frozen broccoli pieces/florets
  • 1-2 cups frozen peas
  • 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
Sauce:
  • ½ large onion
  • Dime-sized bunch of fresh cilantro
  • 1 cup lowfat cottage cheese
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 cup canned garbanzo beans in juice
  • 1 T chicken bouillon
  • ½ tsp. black pepper
  • 2 tsp. curry powder
  • ½-1 tsp. dill weed
  • ½ tsp. prepared horseradish (up this if you want an extra bite; watch ingredients if you have allergies)
  • 1 T Worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrins is friendly to most allergies, but be careful)
  • ½ tsp. glucomannan
  • Parmesan cheese (in the green shake container) and parsley flakes for garnish
Instructions
  1. Get the broccoli and peas out to start thawing.
  2. Bring 10 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the brown rice, stirring it in. Partially cover and reduce heat to medium-low (keep it to a low boil), cooking the rice without disturbing for 30 minutes. Drain the water and put the pan back on the stove and steam the rice over low heat with the lid on for 5 minutes.
  3. Grease a 9x13 inch pan and preheat your oven to 350-400 degrees F.
  4. In the pan, put your rice on the bottom, topped by chicken, broccoli, peas, mushrooms, and any other vegetables you want to add (make sure they're THM approved).
  5. In a blender, blend all the sauce ingredients except for the glucomannan. Once blended, add the glucomannan and blend again.
  6. Pour the sauce over the top of the casserole. It's thick, and will stay on top for the time being. That's fine.
  7. Sprinkle a good amount of parmesan cheese over the top of the casserole. I use the parmesan cheese that comes in the green shaker container and it has only 1.5 grams of fat for a tablespoon of cheese. Keep the fat per serving under 5 grams, but you can be pretty liberal with your sprinkling. The parmesan cheese will form a nice crusty finish on the top of the casserole. Do NOT substitute another higher-fat cheese. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with parsley flakes.
  8. Bake at 350-400 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until the chicken is done. I can't give you an exact time because I had a time deadline when I was making this casserole and ended up jacking the temp way up in an effort to get to church on time... Next time I make the casserole I'll try to figure out a more scientific baking time. Until then, if you try this casserole, let me know how long you baked it for and at what temp.
Recipe by Briana Thomas at https://www.briana-thomas.com/creamy-chicken-rice-casserole-e/