Don’t make fun of me for loving chicken and rice. I know it’s culinary blasphemy to open a can of cream of anything soup to make a meal, but once in awhile I just can’t help myself. I like it! My kid will eat it as will everyone else in my house and dang if they don’t go on and on about a chicken and rice casserole more than they do about an artfully prepared white wine sauce over homemade pasta. I swear. It is what it is. It’s cream of mushroom soup, and people LIKE IT.

I like to play with the idea of chicken and rice casserole and mix it up from time to time. I think it’s an easy thing to make and a good way to hide extra vegetables and nutrients in my family’s meals. Recently, I experimented with kale.

I know that everyone has been on the kale bandwagon for, like, ever, but I was late to the party. I was pretty sure my crew of meat and potatoes eaters would laugh me off the block if I brought home kale and tried to serve it to them as a “chip” (though I have tried said kale chips myself and enjoyed them). So I decided to meet them halfway. I put kale in a chicken and rice casserole. And dang if they didn’t like it. Seriously. They licked the platter clean and asked for more.

So, here is how to get your kid (and your husband who has a fairly kid-like palette and your roommate who still eats like a 9-year-old even though she’s 26) to eat kale. 1) Start with cream of mushroom soup (the fat-free kind of course), and 2) end with chicken drumsticks. They’ll be so dazzled by these favorite things they won’t even notice all the colorful vegetables you tossed into the mix.

I love chicken drumsticks. They are inexpensive and tasty and we only really like dark meat so it makes good sense for us. I rip the skin off mine and Mr. Meat and Potatoes leaves his on and Johnny gets food “on a stick” and everyone is happy. Even the baby loves rice so she got to partake in this meal as well.

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Chicken and rice with kale and carrots

2 cups long grain rice (can use brown though I hate the stuff personally)
8 chicken drumsticks
1 can fat-free cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup light sour cream
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 large carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
2 cups frozen kale, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Into a large casserole dish, dump the rice, soup, sour cream, and chicken broth. Add garlic powder and a dash of salt and pepper. Then toss in the kale, carrots, and onion. Stir it all together.

On top of the rice mixture, lay your chicken legs. Be sure to give them a little salt and pepper before they go down.

Bake for 45 minutes. Check on it occasionally to be sure the rice on top isn’t getting crunchy. Add water if necessary to be sure the rice cooks thoroughly.

It’s an easy and inexpensive meal and I’m not even apologizing for the ’70s casserole-ness of it all. I stand by this choice and I think your family will too. Plus, KALE.