Deep South Eats: Almond Chicken and Rice Casserole

This is an excellent weeknight casserole or if you are in need of taking food to someone...you know we LOVE to do that her in the South. Oh your great uncle's mother's best friend's ingrown toe nail has to be fixed again...well let me bring dinner. Liken it to a "bless your heart" and imagine little Southern girl's reciting over and over "well let me bring dinner". 

I have been making this recipe for quite some time, and have really adapted it to my personal tastes and a more (well more than it was) lower fat version. This serves great with a spinach salad (or any sweet salad) or a green vegetable.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (approx 4 cups)
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 10-oz can of Healthy Request cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 cup of minced onion
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 3/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
• 3/4 cup light sour cream
• 1 tsp. lemon pepper
• 1 cup corn flakes, crushed
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted (as you will notice in the picture I used sliced b/c it was what I had and it worked great too)
• 2 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

Directions:

• Combine chicken and next 7 ingredients and mix well.
• Pour into a lightly greased square, casserole dish.
• Cover dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. You can refrigerate it for the day or just a few hours. Results will be better if refrigerated overnight.
• When ready to bake preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• While oven is heating toss corn flakes and almonds with melted butter.
• Sprinkle evenly over casserole (after removing plastic wrap of course).
• Bake for 1 hour. 

Recipe adapted from: Confessions Of A Kitchen Diva

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