Casseroles I Mean "Bakes"

I have always been somewhat opposed to casseroles...well REALLY opposed. I don't like how everything is smooshed together and how slimey and gooey they usually are and how they stick to the pyrex pan and become a pain and the butt to clean even after a few soaks. I also didn't like cheese for a long time growing up and most casseroles have them as well, another negative in my book.



In the interest of preparing meals ahead of time to make my dinner time routine as easy as possible, I bought a casseroles magazing that had TONS of "one pan recipes" in it. Andy picked out some that looked tempting and we tried a few. I am still not super SOLD on these mushy dishes but I did find one that was ok - for a casserole.



I have never been one for following a recipe to the "T" so here is the recipe with my little twists...before I list ingredients, one of the things I will say is that Sprouts, one of my favorite grocery stores, had Turkey Breasts like same as chicken but it was turkey, and I bought 2 of them - totaling about 1 - 2 lbs. It will also be a pretty good way to use all that leftover Thanksgiving Turkey! Lastly, this is called a "Turkey-Wild Rice 'BAKE'"...not a casserole...So that said, here is the recipe.



Ingredients:

- 1-2 lb. turkey breast

- 1 6-oz. pkg. long grain and wild rice mix (remove the seasoning and discard...only use the rice...which I did though I might try it with the seasoning next time...why not, seasoning is always good in my book!)

- 1 tbs. butter (do not cook with margerine...life is too short and it is too full of chemicals)

- 1 large onion chopped

- 3 cloves garlic

- 1 10.75 oz. can cream of chicken soup

- 1 c. milk

- 1 1/2 tsp. dried basil (I messed up and ended up doing 1/2 tbs. which seemed about the same...)

- 2 c. shredded swiss cheese

- 3 c. chopped cooked turkey breast

- 1 pkg fresh mushrooms (either alread sliced or not...) (recipe calls for jarred...yuck)

- 1/2 c. parmesan cheese

- 1/3 c. sliced almonds

- poultry seasoning

- garlic salt

- black pepper

- bottle of extra virgin olive oil (as Rachel Ray says - EVOO)



1. Preheat oven to 375. Drizzle turkey breasts with a little bit of evoo and heavily sprinkle them with poultry seasoning, garlic salt and pepper. Bake until cooked thoroughly - about 30 min.

2. Prepare long grain - wild rice recipe as says on the box, discard the seasoning packet.

3. While turkey/rice is cooking, chop the onion, garlic, and slice mushrooms. (Be sure to wash the mushrooms but wetting a paper towel and wiping them off. Do not put under running water as it will make them tough)

4. Once the turkey is finished, pull it out, chop and set aside.

5. Melt butter in a skillet (moderatley big size) and then sautee the onions until clear and soft. Add the garlic, be sure to continuously stir so to not burn the garlic. Then add the mushrooms and might have to add some olive oil as the mushrooms tend to eat up quite a bit of oil! Once the mushrooms are cooked, salt and pepper the onion/mush/garlic mixture.

6. Stir in the cream of chicken soup, milk, and basil. Heat through. Then slowly sprinkle in the cheese getting it to melt as you stir. Stir in the turkey, rice, and transfer to a 13x9 baking dish (I used pyrex). Sprinkle almonds on top of the casserole and put in the oven.

7. Cook at 350 degrees until (as Dolly says in Steel Magnolias) gold n bubbly (about 30 min).

I also steamed some broccoli to go with this and it was really good mixed in with the casserole!