Sunday Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients

1 fryer, cut up or a combination of chicken breasts and/or thighs, with bones and skin
1 (15-ounce) bottle Italian salad dressing
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons Riceland Rice Bran Oil
Nonstick cooking spray
1 envelope instant onion soup mix
1 cup Riceland Gold Perfected or Long Grain White Rice
1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped baby bella mushrooms, optional
1 soup can unsalted chicken broth (10 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, crushed
Chopped flat-leaf parsley as garnish, optional

Preparation

1. In a large baking dish, marinate chicken in the bottle of Italian salad dressing overnight in the refrigerator. (Or, at least 4-5 hours.)
2. The next day, drain the dressing from the chicken and pat dry.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
4. In a 3 to 4 quart Dutch oven or casserole, heat butter and Riceland Rice Bran Oil over medium heat. Lightly brown chicken pieces on one side. Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Remove Dutch oven from heat and allow to cool slightly. Sprinkle the instant onion soup mix into the Dutch oven. DO NOT ADD EXTRA SALT.
6. Spray Dutch oven with nonstick baking spray.
7. Stir in rice, cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms and chicken broth. Mix well.
8. Season with pepper and Italian seasoning; stir well.
9. Place chicken on top of rice mixture, browned side up.
10. Cover tightly and bake for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Do not remove lid to check the dish except during the final 1/2 hour.
11. Garnish with chopped flat-leaf parsley, if desired.

Note: In this recipe, we usually use just chicken breasts or a combination of breasts and thighs. If the breasts are very large, we cut them in half across the breast.