Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole with Baked lemon Chicken

"So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being."

I had never made a casserole dish but wait till you try this. It is sooo DELICIOUS. I had a couple people try it and they loved it so i am tapping myself on the back.

Ingredients for Casserole

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

16 oz prepared wild rice sold at most grocery stores in boxes

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper and dried ground pepper

Ingredients for Lemon Garlic chicken

6 tbsp olive oil

2 lemons

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper and dried ground pepper

3/4 lbs green  beans

5 chicken breasts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a large baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Arrange the sliced lemon in a single layer at the bottom of the dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine the remaining oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, black and ground pepper, green beans. 
3. Remove the green beans and arrange on the lemon already placed in the dish.
4. Place the chicken in the bowl with the seasoning mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the chicken in the dish on top of the green beans. I put my green beans on top of the chicken as seen in the picture because I wanted it to be somewhat crispy but some of it burned on the edges so it's your choice. 
5. Pour any remaining seasoning over the chicken and roast for 40-50 minutes. 
6. For the casserole, the recipe says shredded chicken breast but what I did was boil one of the chicken breast and shredded it myself. 
7. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and carrot until softened for about 10 minutes. Stir in chicken, wild rice, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer. 
8. Transfer to a small baking dish. Top with cheddar cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is all metled through out.