Chicken and Scalloped Potato Casserole

Chicken & Scalloped Potato Casserole

It's time again to pamper Grandboy #2, it being Thursday today. I told him it was a lasagna because all three grandboys have let us know they don't like 'casseroles'. 

Plated

Just one slice was filling enough for dinner, accompanied by a salad and chips. It was an interesting experiment and pleasantly surprising that there was enough to make two casseroles. 

Scalloped Potato Pie

The second pie went to a neighbour who is a great help to us and is himself a chef. Hope he enjoys it.

A Slice of Pie

It's pretty amazing that this casserole took just a few ingredients. Any ground meat can be used; to keep it light, I used ground chicken. The chicken can be cooked and seasoned using your own recipe. I chose to use store bought marinara sauce in keeping with the 'lasagna' theme. The next time I make this, I'll be sure to line my bread pan and pie dish with parchment paper to make it easier to invert. Halve the ingredients if you wish to make just one casserole.

Huevos Con Queso - Microwaved Eggs with Hot Peppers & Cheese

Microwaved Eggs with Hot Peppers & Cheese

The best dishes are created when one is ravenous. Lunch was late today because I had only myself to cater to. Earlier in the day, a Pinterest post caught my eye - 12 Ways to Cook Eggs in the Microwave. I've done that before with great success, so when my stomach began to growl, I raided the fridge and came up with this heartwarming and oh-so satisfying one-dish meal.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

salt & pepper to taste

1 wheat tortilla

1 cup left-over chicken fajitas or taco meat (optional)

1 handful cilantro, minced

1 green onion, minced

1 green chili, minced

2 Tbsp. grated cheese

Directions:

1. Break eggs into a microwave-safe dish and beat well with salt & pepper.
2. Tear tortilla into pieces and top with remaining ingredients, except cheese.
3. Mix everything together and microwave on high for 2-1/2 minutes. 
4. Sprinkle with cheese & microwave for another 30 seconds until eggs set.

Serve for lunch with fruit or salad for a hearty meal. Notice I didn't use any butter or oil so it's fat-free.

Baked Tandoori Cauliflower & Potato Casserole

Tandoori Cauliflower & Potato Casserole

One of my favorite food blogs is The English Kitchen, which inspired this dish. I've switched out and added several ingredients to favor my Indian palate and it turned out to be perfect!

Take it easy with the salt because grated cheese has plenty. Serve as a side dish with grilled meats, chicken, fish or shrimp.

Ingredients:

1 large russet potatoes, peeled, sliced & blanched
1 large cauliflower, trimmed, sliced & blanched

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 oz. Greek/hung yogurt

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
2 (8 oz.) cups grated Mexican blend cheese 
2 tsp. tandoori masala powder

1 tsp. Kashmiri mirch/paprika
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
butter to dot the top

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350*F.
2. Heat oil, and stir-fry onions, cauliflower & potatoes, cover and simmer until cooked.
3. Season with tandoori powder, paprika and pepper and cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Remove skillet from heat and stir in yogurt, mixing it into gravy.
5. Spray a baking dish with Pam non-stick butter spray.
6. Layer onions, potatoes, cauliflower and cheese twice.
7. Pour chicken broth around edges and dot top with butter.
8. Bake at 350*F for 20-25 minutes until bubbling & golden brown.

Serve hot as a side dish with grilled meat, fish or shrimp.

Chicken Fajita Casserole

Chicken Fajita Casserole

This deconstruction of a chicken fajita meal combines all its ingredients into a hot & bubbling casserole. I had to come up with something quick that would also appeal to our grandsons (6-8 year-olds) and this met the criteria, especially because we had chicken fajita strips in the freezer. The young boys and their grandparents enjoyed scooping it up with Doritos and heated flour tortillas.

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. (16 oz./1 lb.) fajita chicken strips, cubed or shredded
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced new potatoes
1 can (10.5 oz.) Campbell's cream of chicken soup
2 Tbsp. low-fat sour cream
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
1 pkg. (16 oz./2 cups) reduced fat grated cheese
6 stalks green onions, whites only chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Set aside 1 Tbsp. grated cheese for garnish.
3. Mix remaining ingredients together and place in an 8" x 8" Pyrex dish.
4. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, garnish with grated cheese.
5. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes more until cheese melts.
6. Serve hot with Doritos or tortillas.

I shared this on:

Chicken & Potatoes Divine

This casserole took about an hour to prepare which includes the 40 minutes of baking time. It is a twist on Chicken Divan which uses broccoli instead of the potatoes used here. I used skinless boneless chicken thighs, but I'm sure bone-in thighs would taste even better. 

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Today being Thursday, is GrandBoy’s day. GrandBoy #2 who is 5 years old, will be visiting us and preparing something appealing for him is a big concern. I thought of individual chicken pot pies, but the thought of fiddling with puff pastry and individual bowls of stuff was pretty daunting. Here is the result of simplifying the entire process – a casserole of chicken pot pie ingredients topped with cracker crumbs.  Hope he likes it!

Loaded Baked Potato And Chicken Casserole

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

The inspiration piece at the link above is a healthy recipe. I made a few changes to pump up the flavour with the addition of fajita chicken strips and red pepper flakes. My recipe is much simpler and more straightforward because I've made use of several pre-cooked, ready-made products such as fajita chicken strips and diced potatoes which cut down the baking time by more than half. Before I added the sour cream to the casserole, it looked kind of dry. The outcome of this entire experiment could not have been more successful. It is delicious!