Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

I’m really not sure how I have lived in the south my entire life and never had poppy seed chicken casserole before this year.  It is, I am told, a staple at pot lucks.  In any event, I was first exposed to this dish when at a bridesmaids’ luncheon in February of this year, where the hostess broke with tradition and served poppy seed chicken casserole rather than the more traditional chicken salad (more power to her), which seems to be the dish of bridesmaids’ luncheons (it was served at 5 of the 6 I have attended).  I think I embarrassed myself and pleased the hostess by going back for not only seconds but THIRDS of this delicious casserole.  Since then I’ve been meaning to make it and keep forgetting or was out of some ingredient or other.  But this weekend, I decided I was definitely making it this week, so I was sure to put everything on the grocery list.  I never did get the recipe from the hostess, so I’ve sort of put together my own version as an amalgamation of at least a dozen that I read online.  I wanted to make this healthier and more filling, so I added the mushrooms and peas, and switched out white rice for brown.  Frankly, I think I succeeded beautifully!  It works out to six servings at 662 calories and 15.2 grams of fat.

Ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed, chopped into bite size chunks
2 cans 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup of light sour cream
4 cups pre-cooked brown rice
1/2 cup green peas
8 oz. baby bella mushrooms
1 tablespoon poppyseeds
1 sleeve of reduced fat buttery crackers, crushed
Parkay buttery spray

Directions:

In a 9×13 casserole dish, spread the rice across the bottom.
Top with the mushrooms.
In a large bowl, combine the stock, soup, sour cream, poppy seeds, peas, and chicken.
Pour over the mushrooms and rice.
Top with the crushed crackers and spritz liberally with buttery spray.
Bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes.