no cream of anything casserole

Sometimes I really enjoy one bowl (or one pot- although this isn't one of those) meals. Not complicated, but still made with fresh ingredients (not out of a box) meals.
Paul is clearly allergic to any condensed cream soups that come in a can (a casserole staple) plus the sodium content is outrageous. The appeal of casseroles is their simplicity (the ability to just throw ingredients in a dish and put it in the oven). Casseroles are also a great way of using left over meat- like turkey!
I looked for quite a while for a casserole recipe that included dry rice and didn't contain that dang cream soup. Not finding anything that really appealed to me, I decided to make my own.

copyright: Cori 2010

copyright: Cori 2010

2 cups cooked/left over meat- turkey, chicken, sausage

1 cup dry rice

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 diced onion, 2 stalks sliced celery, 2 sliced carrots, 1 diced green pepper

(or any vegetables you have, frozen or fresh, green beans, broccoli, peas, lima beans...)

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 can diced tomatoes, no salt added

2 cups low salt chicken broth

1/4 cup cooking sherry/white wine

Preheat oven to 375*
Heat oil over medium heat and saute fresh vegetables and garlic until they start to get soft. Add the spices to the vegetables as they saute.
Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray, and layer the meat, rice and any frozen vegetables in the bottom.
Add the fresh sauteed vegetables and canned tomatoes to the casserole dish.
Add the chicken broth and wine evenly on top.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake in 375* oven for 30-45 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed in the casserole.