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Kentucky Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
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Kentucky Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
To Prep: 15 minutes
To Bake: 25-30 minutes
Serves: 8
You have to come up with something good when you cook for a crowd. When asked to feed some fifty volunteers a hot lunch at a fundraiser, I knew it was going to be a casserole that I’d pull out of my hat. I don’t remember how I ended up making this chicken and wild rice casserole but I did, and luckily I made plenty of it because everyone came around for seconds. After the lunch, my friend Katy Varney Goetz, who’s a good cook, asked if that casserole went by the name Mulberry Garden, for the Mulberry Garden casserole of Kentucky, she said, was quite famous and was much like mine. I later asked Katy to share that recipe. She did, and I think her recipe is tastier, so here it is.
4 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 package (6 ounces) Uncle Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice Original Recipe
1 can (10.75 ounces) cream of celery soup (see Tips)
2⁄3 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing (see Tips)
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 jar (2 ounces) sliced pimiento peppers, drained
1 package (9 ounces) frozen French-cut green beans, thawed and drained (see Tips)
11⁄2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (from one 14- to 14.5-ounce can) or water
2 tablespoons pre-grated Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F.
2. Combine the chicken, rice with its seasonings, celery soup, salad dressing, water chestnuts, pimientos, green beans, and chicken broth in a large bowl. Transfer the mixture to a 13-by-9-inch (3-quart) glass or ceramic baking dish and top with the Parmesan cheese. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
3. Bake the casserole until it is bubbling and the rice has cooked, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then serve.
Tips: It is important for the flavor of the casserole not to substitute another type of soup for the cream of celery or mayonnaise for the sweeter Miracle Whip.
To quickly thaw the green beans, follow the microwave directions on the package, then drain them well. Or substitute a drained can of French-cut green beans for the frozen ones.
This casserole freezes well, either baked or unbaked, and it can be doubled or tripled for feeding a crowd. If you freeze it unbaked, don’t add the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle it on before baking.
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