Long day of laziness – check. A couple hours of fun on the tennis courts – check. Dinner – check. Who cares if it didn’t make it to our plates until 9:00? A friend said she made this Almond Chicken Casserole and it was AMAZING. It’s been on the recipe site for a long time, but I think I only made it once… a long time ago. However, I will at least apply the “amazing” title to the toasted cubes of bread on top of the casserole – yum!
I wish I could say I was adventurous with cheeses, but that would be a lie. It’s not that I’m afraid to stray from the basics, but I’m not a big fan of spending mucho dinero on artisan cheese and not being able to use it up before it goes bad. We have gone through a couple packages of fresh mozzerella this summer and a significant amount of cheddar in the last few weeks. So the Swiss cheese in this casserole, although not exactly adventurous, was a welcome change. So exciting that I decided to take a fun picture of it.
The next time I make this dish, I will change a few things. First of all, it calls for a CUP of mayonnaise. I could die from that. If you don’t see any more posts this week, you’ll know that I actually did. Death by almond chicken casserole. I think half that amount would be fine… but still, I might try to substitute some sour cream or cream cheese for part of the mayo. Second, less celery and more almonds. Otherwise, I’ll have to change the title of the recipe – 1 1/2 cups of celery and 1/4 cup slivered almonds does not an almond chicken casserole make. It makes celery casserole. Third, always, always, always use red peppers to add a bit of sweetness. Green peppers are good for Italian classics, and they’ll work in a pinch when you have a green one that needs to be used up (which I did), but red is hands-down better for this meal. Anyway, it’s a tasty combination. Give it a try!
Almond Chicken Casserole
