Chicken and Rice Casserole

Made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit, so I decided to write it down before I forgot what I did.  I have a habit of making things as I go and then not being able to repeat it because I didn't follow any particular recipe. Anyway, this one is simple and straight forward, and real ingredients.  I've been in a bit of a recipe rut lately, so it was good for me to make something that worked well for the family and get back into a cooking mood again.

Chicken and Rice Casserole

2 chicken breasts
2 c brown rice
5 c water
1-2 tsp better than boullion (chicken base, or you can use 2 cans of chicken broth instead of water)
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
onion powder
garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese
breadcrumbs for topping

I used a rice cooker for the rice, so I just put the water and rice and chicken base in the rice cooker and set it to cook.  This takes the longest amount of time, so you want to do this about 35 minutes before you start the other stuff.  Brown rice takes about twice as long as regular rice.  You can use regular rice, I just like to add whole grains to our diet where we can.

Season chicken with garlic and onion powders and salt and pepper.  Heat olive oil in skillet and brown chicken on all sides, then place on baking sheet and finish cooking in oven (or in our case, toaster oven).

In the chicken drippings in the same skillet, saute the onions, carrots, and celery until tender.  Set aside in a large bowl until chicken and rice are done cooking.  When the chicken and rice are cooked, mix together veggies, chicken, rice, and cheeses and then pour into a greased baking dish, and then top with more cheese and breadcrumbs.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until topping browns and casserole is hot and bubbly.