There’s something about casseroles that, to me, should be spelled C-O-M-F-O-R-T. My mother cooked dinner almost every night, and so many times it would be the typical Southern dinner — a meat and a couple of sides with a salad and bread. But on the occasion when there were leftovers, she’d cleverly blend them with whatever else she had on hand and, of course, a can of cream-of-something soup, and deliver a beautiful casserole to the table.
This was the 1970s, after all, so cans of cream of mushroom, celery and chicken were a staple on pantry shelves and not really shunned as much by snobby cooks then as now.
The beauty of a casserole is, most times, some vegetables are added, so you have everything you need in one dish. Aren’t one-dish meals a cook’s dream? Add a salad for some color to the plate and, presto, dinner’s on the table.
Rather than buying family-size frozen meals, homemade casseroles enable you to make your own convenience meal much more economically. And for just a few dollars more, you can double or triple the recipe, cook one tonight, then put the remaining in freezer-proof casseroles so they’ll be ready when you need them.
This recipe is one from my files. If you have leftover chicken, by all means, use it. And though the recipe calls for white meat, it’s even better with a combination of white and dark.