TASTY TUESDAY CHICKEN CORDON BLEU CASSEROLE

I love Chicken Cordon Bleu with it's crunchy outer layer then the chicken, ham and soft, dripping Gruyere center, so I thought I would try and get the same flavors with a lot less fat. I made the dish into a casserole with six servings and paired it with some stir fried asparagus and onions, cooked carrots and a side salad.  Great dinner with the only starch item being the little bit of panko on the top of the casserole, 3-5 servings of veggies (depending on what you put into your salad) and a nice serving of protein.

Reminder the "Tasty Tuesday" items are recipes that we love that are either newly created and are healthy and contain ingredients easy to find and are easy to fix or old favorites recreated to take out as much sugar, fat and calories as is possible and still be tasty.

Easy to find ingredients...those showing plus a pound of baked chicken breasts (or poached).

I usually shred chicken with my hand mixer but my oldest son said he uses the paddle in his stand mixer (thank you R&L) and it works beautifully and easier.

Using Pam or other spray, coat the bottom of  your casserole dish (I used a 9x13 casserole dish), spread the shredded chicken on the bottom and then ham (I used Trader Joe's uncured ham slices)...

Slices of reduced calorie Swiss cheese....

Gravy on top....

Finally into the oven with the seasoned Panko on top...

Out of the oven with the crispy Panko topping.....

Served with carrots, asparagus and onions stir fried in a little EVOO and a side salad (not shown).  Healthy and delicious dinner.

Preheat oven to 350°

Ingredients

1 pound baked/poached chicken breast, shredded
6 slices reduced calorie Swiss cheese
9 slices of low fat, thin sliced ham

Sauce

You can either make a white sauce using skim milk and add some Dijon mustard, salt, pepper (use light butter to make the roux) paprika and pepper.

I made my sauce using a jar of Heinz chicken  gravy.  I keep this item around in both chicken and beef because it is very low in calorie and fat and is handy to use as a base for sauces.  To the jar I added 1T brandy (could substitute apple juice) 1 heaping T of Dijon mustard (Edmond Fallot is my favorite and I used the one with marjoram) 1/4 tsp dried tarragon, salt, pepper and a tablespoon of sour cream.  Mix this all together and be sure and taste. When heated, set aside.

Topping

1 1/2 cups of panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup light butter
1 1/2t garlic powder
2tsp chopped fresh parsley 
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix together all ingredients and set aside.

Directions 

Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with Pam or other spray and then add the shredded chicken breast, the ham and then the Swiss cheese, pour the gravy over the meat and top with the bread crumbs and spray with the non-stick spray.

Bake uncovered for approximately 25-35 minutes until the topping is nice and brown.

Makes six servings, each less than 300 calories.

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