I stumbled across a recipe for chicken salad casserole, and I instantly wanted it! Sadly, the recipe was full of mayo and gobs of cheese. I did some recipe research, combined a few things here, added a few things there, and the lightened chicken salad casserole below was delightful!

• In large mixing bowl, combine…
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 2 stalks of celery, chopped
  • 1 can of sliced water chestnuts, drained
  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • 3 cups of cooked, chopped chicken
  • 4 ounces Swiss cheese
  • 6 ounces of low-fat plain yogurt
  • 1 can of reduced fat cream of chicken soup
  • 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
  • Pepper to taste
• Place mixture in greased casserole dish. Top with crushed cornflakes and bake at 375* for 30ish minutes.

I thought this was very flavorful and very delicious! Don’t get me wrong, the mayo-tastic version would have been so good, but it wouldn’t have kept me on the path to swimsuit season! This was also reasonably inexpensive as I purchased chicken hindquarters, roasted them in the oven, and shredded the meat myself. If you want to make this in advance, leave off the cornflakes until you are ready to pop the casserole in the oven. Happy cooking!