Baked chicken jambalaya

Baked Chicken Jambalaya

When I'm feeling domestic and have enough time, I like to sit down and make out a menu and grocery list for an entire week. Some weeks I don't have the wherewithal to figure out on a Sunday what I think I'll want to eat the following Thursday, but when the mood strikes me to make a menu in advance it does seem to make life easier.

I like to get in my favorite chair, preferably with a glass of wine or a mimosa if I'm doing it in the morning, and surround myself with cookbooks and my recent pins from Pinterest and come up with a menu for the week.

Last week I was in such a mood and so I did manage to do some advance planning. One of the recipes I prepared this week was from one of my Mamma's old cookbooks, actually one I had given her as a Christmas gift some years ago.

The cookbook is from famed Cajun cook Justin Wilson and it's fun to read because he often includes little stories with the recipes.

As I often do, I put my own little spin on his recipe entitled Baked Chicken on a Sunday, cooked on a Tuesday ala Walter Guitreau. I made mine on a Wednesday so I guess now it's  Baked Chicken on a Sunday, cooked on a Tuesday ala Walter Guitrea, actually cooked on a Wednesday by Kitsey. Whew, say that 10 times fast!

The recipe is essentially a baked jambalaya. Now, I'm going to warn you, this is a super simple recipe and yes, don't judge, it does use canned soup. I know some of you (my fiance included) are snobbish about such recipes, but I'm not. They are easy to do, especially for mid-week meals.

Justin used bone-in chicken, but I cheated and chopped up some boneless chicken tenders for mine.

Combine 2 cups uncooked rice, diced chicken, a can of cream of mushroom, a can of cream of celery, two soup cans of milk and a package of dried onion soup mix in a 9x12 casserole dish.  I added a pinch or two of salt and a couple of healthy dashes of Tony Chachere's creole seasoning as well. Mix it all up real good, cover with foil and bake for about an hour on 350. I like to take the foil off for about the last five minutes or so. I recommend buttering the bottom of the dish a bit too. I didn't do that and mine got a little stuck in the bottom.

This would be great served with a nice green salad, but we just ate ours by itself and it was delish.