Frozen Dinner Swap: Chicken Zucchini Casserole

I have always loved zucchini. I think it's a very versatile vegetable. Mild in flavor and easily prepared in a multitude of ways. I've loved fried zucchini since I was a kid. I was just as happy to eat it as I was french fries.

Although ... when I was in first grade I professed in the local newspaper's student spotlight that my favorite meal was crab meat salad ... so I probably wasn't like most kids!

We make zucchini from time to time at our house, mostly in the form of zucchini chips (an easy recipe I'll share some other time), so I was happy that at our latest frozen dinner swap I took home one of Kristen Deere's Chicken Zucchini Casseroles. I don't think I've ever eaten zucchini in a casserole before, so I was excited to try this dish.

To boil it down, it's pretty much a creamy chicken dressing with bits of zucchini in it. You can definitely taste the zucchini in the casserole, but it's not the showcase ingredient. Perhaps making this a great way to sneak some veggies past kids who usually turn their noses up at all things green. You know, kids who claim corn dogs rather than crab meat salad as their favorite dish.

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

1 (6 ounce) package stuffing mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
3 cups diced zucchini
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sour cream

• In a large bowl, combine stuffing mix and butter. Set aside 1/2 cup for topping.
• Add the zucchini, chicken, soup, carrot, onion and sour cream to the remaining stuffing mixture.
• Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with reserved stuffing mixture.
• Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.