My lifelong friend, Catherine Anne, and I love making casseroles. You know, the ones where you can add your ingredients to a bowl, mix, cook and add cheese or bacon. Casseroles are perfect accompanied by a garden salad and bread, or just by themselves.
This time of the year, I love having sliced tomatoes from our garden with every meal.
I thought I would share some of my quick casserole recipes with you.
Rotel Chicken Mexican Casserole
3 split fryer breasts cooked and cubed
1 bag of tortilla chips crushed
1 can of Rotel
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 small can of chopped green chilies
1 pound of Velveeta or American Cheese
Cook and dice your chicken. Mix together your Rotel, Soup, Green Chiles, and cubed Cheese. Heat this mixture in a microwave till melted and then add your chicken. In a casserole pan layer 1/2 your chips and 1/2 your cheese mixture. Repeat these layers and top with a few crushed chips. Bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.
Pizza Casserole
1 16-ounce package uncooked rotini pasta
1 pound ground Italian sausage
1 24-ounce jar pasta sauce
1 16-ounce container cottage cheese
1 2-1/4 ounce can sliced black olives, drained (optional)
1 4-ounce can mushrooms, drained
12 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
2 3-ounce packages sliced pepperoni
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage until evenly brown, drain grease. Mix in the cooked pasta and pasta sauce. Pour into prepared casserole dish.
In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese, olives, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.
Spoon the cheese mixture over the sausage and pasta mixture. Top with pepperoni slices.
Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly browned.
Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole
2 cups diced or shredded chicken breast meat (or for extra lazy days use a rotisserie chicken)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 4.5-ounce can diced green chili peppers, drained
1 10-ounce can red enchilada sauce
8 6-inch corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 8-ounce container sour cream
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and spray with vegetable cooking spray. Sauté chicken with cumin and coriander until chicken is cooked through. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the cilantro, black beans, and green chili peppers.
Spread half of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of an 11x7 inch baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Place 4 tortillas over the sauce, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas, and sprinkle with half of the cheese and half of the sour cream.
Spoon the remaining enchilada sauce over the cheese, and make another layer of tortillas. Layer the remaining chicken mixture over the tortillas.
Cover dish with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven.
Remove the cover, and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and dot with sour cream. Continue cooking, uncovered, for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese melts.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
