Chicken Vegetable Casserole (Healthier Version)

Healthy Chicken Vegetable Casserole

Ingredients:

• 12 oz cooked chicken breast diced.
• 2 T of all purpose flour.
• 2 T of unsalted butter.
• 10 oz of skim milk.
• 1 pinch of pepper.  (original recipe called for white pepper)
• 1 t of Italian seasoning.
• 1 T of Parmesan cheese shredded.
• 7 oz of multi-grain Omega 3 penne pasta (original recipe called for whole wheat penne pasta)
• 2 bell peppers diced, yellow or orange.  (I chose one of each.)
• 1 zucchini chopped.
• 2 heads of broccoli chopped.
• 1/3 cup of Colby Monetary Jack shredded cheese.  (original called for Monetary Jack cheese.)
• non-cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
2. Start water boiling for penne noodles, cook according to package.  The last minute dump the chopped broccoli into the water with the noodles.
3. Prepare white sauce by placing butter in small pot that has been preheated over medium heat. 
4. Once the butter foams, add the flour and stir for 1 minute.  Try not to let it brown.
5. Add the milk to the butter and flour and stir until it starts to bubble.
6. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Add pepper, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan cheese to the white sauce and stir to combine.
8. Once noodles and broccoli have been cooked, drain the water and add to a large bowl.
9. Dump the rest of the vegetables and chicken into the large bowl and mix.
10. Once the vegetables, noodles, and chicken have been mixed add the white sauce and mix to coat evenly.
11. Spray the sides and the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish with the non-cooking spray.
12. Add the vegetables, noodles, and chicken to the baking dish.
13. Top with the Colby Monetary Jack cheese and place aluminum foil over the top and bake for 20 minutes.
14. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until cheese has been melted.

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