Chicken, Vegetable And Brown Rice Casserole

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• 3 lbs chicken pieces
• 1 cup brown rice or 1 cup wild rice, uncooked
• 2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans of regular cream of mushroom soup or 2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4 cup water
• 4 tablespoons dill weed
• 3 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 cups diced celery
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 1 cup whole grain cracker, crushed
• 4 tablespoons butter or 4 tablespoons margarine
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• 2 in a 9x13" or larger casserole dish stir together rice, soup, water, 2 tablespoons of dill weed, 1 teaspoon of paprika, salt and pepper to taste, celery, onion, and carrots.
• 3 make sure rice is covered by liquid.
• 4 skin chicken pieces and place meat side up on top of rice and vegetable mixture, leaving about 1" between pieces.
• 5 cover casserole dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.
• 6 after 1 hour, remove casserole from oven and check chicken for doneness by piercing thickest pieces and looking for clear juices.
• 7 if juices are pink or unclear put casserole back in oven and bake until juices run clear.
• 8 meanwhile in a medium saucepan melt butter or margarine over low heat.
• 9 remove pan from heat and add in the crushed crackers, remaining 2 tablespoons of dill, and remaining 2 teaspoons of paprika.
• 10 stir well until butter is absorbed and mixture is moist.
• 11 remove casserole from oven and discard aluminum foil.
• 12 spoon cracker mixture over chicken pieces only and spread.
• 13 place casserole back in oven and bake 10-15 minutes more or until cracker mixture is firm but not dry.
• 14 remove casserole from oven and let stand 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed into the rice.