Chicken Vegetable Casserole

Usually I do not make many casseroles. I am the type to make more skillet dishes that do not require baking after cooking. However, this has become a favorite with our family recently and is a real comfort food. When our third child was born this past December, some friends and family were very nice to bring us meals. One of those meals was brought by my sister-in-law and is featured in this post. We really enjoyed this recipe and I decided to remake it using leftover cooked turkey. It really is a versatile casserole in which one might substitute a number of different or combination of vegetables, pasta instead of the potato, or fish instead of chicken or turkey. I also added a little chicken broth that I needed to use up. This recipe originally was from a Manor Brethren In Christ cookbook entitled Sharing His Goodness and was submitted by Christie Hunt. She noted that it was a recipe given to them after one of the babies was brought home from the hospital. This probably is also a recipe that one could make up in larger quantities and freeze part of it. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cup cooked chicken, cubed (or turkey or even fish)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (may substitute cream of celery or mushroom soup if desired, or if using fish)
• 4 potatoes, peeled, boiled and chunked
• 1 1/2 cups cooked carrots, or a mixture of other vegetables (I added some peas, as well as some onion and celery finely chopped)
• 1 sleeve of ritz crackers or other buttery crackers, crushed (may substitute bread crumbs and parmesan cheese)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp poppy seeds (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-3 quart baking dish. 
• Combine the sour cream, milk and cream soup (as well as broth if using it) together. Add in the chicken (meat), potatoes (or pasta) and vegetables. Mix together and put in the prepared baking dish. 
• Melt the butter and mix with the cracker crumbs or bread crumbs (and poppy seeds, if using them). Spread over top of the casserole . 
• Bake uncovered for approximately 30 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbly.