Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? on February 4, 2011
For a commentary-free and printer friendly version, please click here.
Recipe originally published
in Cooking Light’s weekly e-zine on Friday, January 30, 2009.
I am a sucker for all things
retro, so the title caught my eye. The premise
of this recipe is a tart chicken casserole with a crunchy topping. I was sold.
Cooking Light also took the time to “thin it out” a little, so I didn’t
have to deal with all the pesky fat and calories that usually comes with a
recipe like this.
My finished product:
|
Picture published with recipe:
|
Unfortunately, Cooking Light didn’t
take a picture of their dish as a serving (although their picture does look
awfully pretty). However, comparing the
two, my chips are golden and you can see the lovely green and red of the
vegetables poking through. So I passed
the visual test, now I had to worry about taste.
Assessment:
for more details about what my
ratings mean, go to Gretchen’s Rating System
Mess: SIGH –
At first, I didn’t think this should have been too bad, but when it comes to
the chicken, you either have to (a) cook the chicken breasts and then cut them,
or (b) skin, de-bone and cut up a rotisserie chicken as I did. While the second option is less time
consuming and generates fewer dishes to clean, it is quite a messy task. Add that to having to clean and chop a pepper
with seeds and I had to give it a slightly worse rating.
Start-to-Finish Time: UNDER AN HOUR – It took me less time to
assemble the casserole than to prep the ingredients and the cook time is under
20 minutes. Unless you have to cook the
chicken (add 20 minutes minimum) you should definitely be able to finish this
under an hour.
Prep Work: LOSS
OF FINGER POSSIBLE – Since this was the entire reason the Mess rating was SIGH, I figured it deserved this rating. Now, removing the skin and pulling the meat
from the chicken isn’t a difficult task (in fact, kids could probably do it),
it is just so messy. I ended up with
chicken bits, juice and skin all over my hands, counter & floor. Oh yeah, and I hate cleaning peppers.
Ease of Recipe: COOK IT IN MY SLEEP – Especially if you use
pre-cooked chicken, all you have to do it chop a little, mix a little and layer
the casserole.
Overall: SORRY HONEY, NO LEFTOVERS – This was one of
those dishes by the ingredients I knew would taste good. I just didn’t realize how good it was going
to taste. I scooped a bite directly out
of the dish even before I plated and photographed it. My husband felt the same way and began eating
it cold out of the dish.
Recipe Information:
Time estimates are from
the original publisher of the recipe, not the length of time it took me to
create it. Look for my comments
below. Nutritional Information is based
on original recipe. Any changes I make
to reduce the caloric, fat, cholesterol or sodium content are not reflected in
the Nutritional Information.
Prep/Total Time: none given
Servings: 6
Nutritional Information
- Calories 321
- Total Fat 10.9g (Saturated Fat 4.1g)
- Cholesterol 96mg
- Sodium 606mg
- Total Carbohydrate 20.4g
- Fiber 2.6g
- Protein 34.3g
- Iron 11.4mg
- Calcium 175mg
Cooking Light didn’t give any
prep/cooking time for this dish because I’m assuming that for a simple
casserole you shouldn’t take too long.
Of course, it always makes me laugh when they expect you to materialize
cooked chicken out of thin air. Why not
include that in the recipe steps?
Anyway, here is how long it took
me to make the dish:
- Prep: 15 minutes
- Assembly: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total: 43 minutes
You could probably get more than
six servings if you serve the dish with a broth soup (think vegetable or
chicken) or a salad. I ate mine with a
large salad. Honestly, I’m not sure what
my husband ate it with – I only ever saw him scooping it and eating it directly
out of the dish.
The nutritional information wasn’t
too bad, but considering it was Cooking Light who produced the recipe, I would
hope it wasn’t too bad. However, when
this recipe was written, they hadn’t come out with the Olive Oil mayonnaise
yet, which is better in fat and cholesterol and higher in the “good fat”. That was what I opted to use.
Ingredients:
Changes denoted by red text
1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed
and meat chopped
¼ cup chopped green onions
¼ cup chopped red bell pepper
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water
chestnuts, drained and chopped
½ cup low-fat olive oil
mayonnaise
¼ cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black
pepper
Cooking spray
¾ cup (3 ounces) shredded Swiss
cheese
¾ cup crushed baked potato chips
(about 2 ounces)
Ingredient Notes:
Rotisserie Chicken – the original recipe called for “4 cooked,
skinless, boneless chicken breasts, chopped” but I didn’t want to take the time
to cook the chicken, wait for it to cool and then chop it. So I bought a rotisserie chicken from the
deli, removed the skin and bones and chopped up all the meat – dark meat and
all.
Green Onions – to get the ¼ cup
chopped green onions, you’ll need approximately 3 out of a bunch.
Red Bell Pepper
- The difference between red bell peppers and their green counterparts are green are both less flavorful and expensive. However, either can be used, I just went with the red bell peppers to give it a little more kick.
- To get the ¼ cup of chopped pepper, you’ll need approximately ½ of a small bell pepper.
Parsley – The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of finely chopped
fresh flat-leaf parsley, but since it wasn’t a very large amount, I substituted
2 teaspoons of dried parsley.
Mayonnaise – Mayonnaise is made by slowing adding oil to an egg yolk while
mixing/whisking rapidly. The type of oil
determines the type of mayonnaise. Most “regular”
mayonnaise use soybean oil (for its low cost).
Then they came out with Canola mayonnaise made with canola oil (more
expensive but healthier). Finally, they
went back to mayonnaise’s roots by using olive oil which is expensive, but the
healthiest option. I buy olive oil
mayonnaise because I love the stuff, but need to watch my cholesterol and fat
levels.
Lemon Juice – to get the 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, you’ll need to
squeeze about ½ of a lemon.
Dijon Mustard – there are a lot of types of Dijon mustard,
but you want to stick with the traditional Dijon instead of one of the flavored
ones.
Equipment Needed:
 | |
| © You Want Me to Cook?Hot Chicken & Chips Retro Equipment Needed |
Sharp knife
Juicer
Large bowl
Large spoon - mixing
Small bowl
Whisk
11x7 baking dish
Equipment Notes:
11x7 baking dish – you always want to use a glass baking dish
or pan when using acidic ingredients (lemon juice) or anything with eggs
(mayonnaise). According to Better Homes and Gardens, these ingredients can react badly with the
metal pan and cause the food to discolor.
Directions:
(1) Combine chicken, green onions, red bell pepper, parsley and
water chestnuts in a large bowl; stir well.
The only reason I have “changes” to
this step is because I listed all the ingredients to be added to the
chicken. I HATE having to count “the
next 4 ingredients”. My brain is already
being taxed with cooking.
(2) Combine low-fat mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon
juice, mustard, salt and black pepper in a small bowl, stirring with
a whisk.
See the comment I made for step #1.
(3) Add mayonnaise mixture to chicken
mixture; stir well to combine.
 |
| © You Want Me to Cook? Hot Chicken & Chips Retro Casserole Assembled |
(5) Top cheese evenly with chips.
(6) Bake at 400°F for 13 to 18 minutes or until filling is bubbly and chips are golden.
The original recipe gave a cook
time as 13 minutes, but my filling didn’t get “bubbly” or my chips “golden”
until about 18 minutes had passed.
Therefore, I gave you a cooking range to use. Start checking in on it around 13 minutes,
but be prepared to have it cook a little longer.
While reviewing my recipe notes,
the only thing I had written down about the taste was “creamy chicken casserole
with a kick.” I must have been way too
busy shoving gigantic spoonfuls of it into my mouth to write down anything
else. The chips gave it a delightful
crunch and added a great saltiness to the dish.
This is one of those dishes I keep on hand to make in a pinch if I don’t
feel like stressing myself out cooking for dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment