Chicken and Swiss Cheese Casserole

I wanted to make something easy for my friend Julie who had her 7th baby a few weeks ago. Yes...number 7! I found this recipe in Chloe's cookbook-- it looked like a cinch to make, and it would be enough to feed a family of 9. Well...8... I guess little Michael isn't eating solids yet :-)

I am sure I'll be making more recipes from Chloe's cookbook in the future. I went to her funeral on Monday, and it was beautiful...yes, I cried, but I was sure in the knowledge that Chloe is in heaven. And the purple text below is because Chloe's favorite colors were pink and purple.

There are a couple of changes from the original recipe. I know...I nearly always tweak a recipe...unless it's something complicated, then I'll follow the recipe to the letter the first time. After that...I will often make it my own. I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme. My thyme in the backyard is finally recovered from Hurricane Ike, and I had plenty to harvest. I only used one bag of stuffing...2 seemed like a lot. I used "healthy request" cream of chicken soup, and light sour cream, but did use an entire stick of butter. Sorry... Sometimes, you just have to...in order to moisten the stuffing adequently, I decided not to skimp on the butter.

So, here's another post dedicated to Chloe, and all children who have cancer.

Chicken and Swiss Cheese Casserole

6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 package fresh thyme
6 slices swiss cheese
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 stick of butter, melted
1 14 ounce bag stuffing mix (I used Pepperidge Farm Country style)

Place the chicken in a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Season with the salt and pepper. Strip the thyme leaves from the stalks and sprinkle over the chicken. I used about one stalk per chicken breast.

Oh... about the chicken. Lately, we've been buying these "chicken breast portions" at SAM'S Club. They are a bit thinner that regular chicken breasts. You can use whatever you'd like.

Place a slice of swiss cheese over each chicken breast. Mix the soup and sour cream together, and spread over the cheese.

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and stuffing, stir to coat. Sprinkle evenly over the chicken.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more. This will crisp up the top of the stuffing, and turn it a nice golden brown.

I thought the creamy chicken was great with the stuffing...some of it was soft, but the cubes of bread on the very top were nice and crunchy. My kids gave it a 6.5 (out of ten!). David thought it was very good. I though it was delicious, and really easy to make (always a plus for me).

Chloe, this one was good! God Bless your table tonight!