This is something we invented yesterday afternoon. We used the basic recipe structure of your average chicken casserole, then modified it all just about every turn. I call it “Double-Baked” because you’ll be making two tours of the oven before the end. Was it good? Yep. Hearty, too.
Double-Baked Chicken And Quinoa Casserole
The Chicken:
6 to 8 Chicken Breasts*, boneless
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
2 Tbl Tarragon, driedThe Quinoa:
2 Cups White Quinoa, dry
4 Cups Chicken StockThe Vegetables:
4 or 5 Celery Stalks
1 Onion (Vidalia, if available)
3 or 4 Broccoli Florets, Largish
2 Tbl Olive OilOther:
1 8 oz. Container of Sour Cream
2 Cans, Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Box, Panko Crumbs, Whole WheatYou’re going to need some time for this, but it pays off in the end.
Start with the chicken. We went with a package of 7 chicken breasts, store-brand, boneless, skinless and 97% fat-free. Open the package and cross-hatch the exposed sides of the breasts with a sharp knife. This will break the surface, hopefully allowing a bit more marinade to soak. To marinate the chicken, you can use whatever container you have available, but a 1-gallon zip-lock plastic bag is just about perfect. With the chicken breasts in the bag, you can pour in your soy sauce and olive oil, then the tarragon. With the zip-lock sealed, you can shake the bag around to make sure that all of the meat is coated.
Place your bag of chicken in the fridge and let it marinate for about 30 to 45 minutes. Go take a nap or something.
When you’re back, pre-heat the oven to 390. Cover the inside of a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with foil, leaving enough to fold over the top. Coat the foil with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange your marinated chicken breasts in the dish, making sure that they don’t overlap. Don’t worry about shaking off any marinade, it’s fine. You might need more room, depending on the size of your chickens, so have another baking dish handy to be foiled, sprayed and used. Before you fold over the foil, sprinkle a bit more tarragon, just to make sure all is covered. Bake, covered in foil, for 25 minutes. At that mark, uncover the chicken and bake for another 15 minutes.
While you’re waiting, move on to the quinoa. Quinoa is pinch-hitting for rice in this recipe. I’ve nothing against rice, but quinoa just has a more interesting taste and consistency. In a 2-quart (or maybe 1.5 quart) pot, mix your quinoa and chicken stock. Chicken broth would do just as well. Stir the mix to break up the quinoa, as it likes to cling to itself, then put the pot on the stove. Bring to a boil at medium-high (“7″ on my dial). Once it boils, cover the pot and simmer (about “5″) for 15 minutes or until almost all of the liquid is cooked away. Place your cooked quinoa in a covered bowl and put it aside. It will continue to soak any remaining chicken broth.
Vegetables are next. Slice the celery as thin as you prefer. Chop the onion roughly, but in smallish bits. For the broccoli, trim anything that resembles a stalk, leaving just the “tree” portions. In a smallish pan, sweat the vegetables in olive oil until the onions start to become translucent. When done, just place the veggies in the same bowl as your waiting quinoa.
Check the chicken. If done, take a sharp knife and slice the baked breasts into roughly 1″ cubes or smaller. If you’ve time, you could pull the chicken apart, but all that matters is that you’ve got mix-able chicken.
Find a large bowl. We have these big stainless steel bowls that I bought for props once and they’re perfect for this. In this bowl, put the sour cream, the quinoa (with the vegetables), the chicken and the cream of chicken soup. Don’t worry about getting all of the soup from the can. What comes out is plenty. Mix all of this together, making sure that everything is covered. You could use your hands if you want to be messy and thorough, but a spatula or spoon ought to do.
Pre-heat the oven to 350. Prep another 9″ x 13″ baking dish (or the same one, if you’ve a helper on cleaning duty) with cooking spray, then pour/push/scoop the whole bowl full of everything into the dish, levelling it out as you go. With luck, you shouldn’t overflow. Sprinkle panko crumbs over the top of the mix, using however much you wish to use.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil, rather tightly, and place in the center of your oven. Bake for 30 minutes. If your company hasn’t all arrived, remove the foil, set the oven to “Warm” (or whatever your lowest is), and let the casserole hang out until you’re ready.
Feeds about 10 to 12 people, depending on how generous you are with the portions. Let them salt or pepper to their taste.
That’s it. If you try it, let me know.
* And by this, I mean “Chicken Breast Halves,” which is how most chicken is sold pre-packaged.
