Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ok, I'm going to be honest. I'm not much of a casserole type gal. In fact, there are only a few casseroles I actually enjoy eating. This happens to be one of them. The other fact of casseroles...they're impossible to make look appetizing and pretty in pictures. Ok, maybe not impossible, but impossible for me. I think you have to be a majorly impressive food stylist and photographer to make a casserole look good in pictures. But I do my best.

My mom used to make a version of this casserole ALL.THE.TIME when I was growing up. I LOVED it. Back then, I mostly liked the rice. I would beg for more rice with chunks of chicken still left on my plate. Now that I'm an adult and have "grown up," I still mostly like the rice. But I eat all my chicken too. That counts for something, right? Hehe. The difference between my version and my mom's-she used cream of chicken soup, or cream of mushroom, or something. A condensed cream of something soup. I make a "cream of chicken" type soup from scratch, cause I think it works better. She would use strips of bacon, and I use bacon bits. Other than that...it's pretty much the same. And it's easy. And you'll like it. I hope. :) My recipe is probably enough to feed four people (unless you have big eaters), but if you have more than that, double it. Or make lots of veggies and sides to go with it. I just had canned peaches as a side.

Ingredients:
-Chicken breast (I only used one)-uncooked and cubed in 1-2 inch cubes
-3 tablespoons butter
-2 tablespoons flour
-1/2-3/4 cup cream
-1 cup chicken broth
-2-3 cups rice, uncooked
-3 tablespoons bacon bits
-2 teaspoons garlic powder
-2 teaspoons of a seasoning blend that works well with chicken. I used a roasted garlic and herb seasoning mix, but use anything you like. Rosemary would be great, just add some salt and pepper with it.

Directions:
Cook the rice according to package directions. Set aside. In a sauce pan, melt the butter, then add the flour. Whisk together to form a roux, and let it cook a couple minutes, stirring constantly. Add the cream, and stir to combine well. It will start to thicken up significantly. When the cream is well combined, add the chicken broth. It will thin out the sauce a good bit. Add your seasonings to the sauce, stirring frequently, and let it cook just a couple minutes, thickening up a little bit and absorbing the yumminess of the seasonings. In a large-ish baking dish (I used my 2 quart Corningware oval dish), dump everything together-rice, sauce, chicken, bacon bits. Stir it all together in the baking dish, then level it out somewhat so it bakes evenly. Put foil over it, and bake it for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the top layer of rice is just a smidge crunchy. Serve it immediately. I served peaches with mine, but please add veggies or some other fruit if you'd like to make it a more "balanced" meal. Enjoy!