A Dairy-Free Chicken Casserole

Creamy chicken casserole without the cream. 
Since I have become dairy intolerant, I have to avoid cream, milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.  Yesterday I was hankering for a creamy casserole so I googled and found this recipe.   I tweaked it just a bit.  I halved the recipe for a serving of four. And I eliminated the yeast (simply because I did not have any, but apparently that would have given the recipe a cheesy flavor plus a dose of Vitamin B.)
Removing the strands of noodles from the spaghetti squash. 
 I halved a small spaghetti squash and cooked it in the microwave for about 8 minutes.  When it was cool enough, I scraped with a fork to remove the strands of squash noodles and placed them in an 8x8 deep casserole dish.
Spaghetti noodles in casserole dish. 
Instead of baking the four boneless chicken thighs, I poached them.

Poached chicken thighs. 
For the sauce, I assembled 1/2 cup of basil (from my garden), 2 cups of fresh spinach, and a 13.5 oz can of artichoke bottoms chopped coarsely.  Must not forget the 1/2 cup of Duke's mayo.  Mix all the sauce ingredients and mix in with the spaghetti noodles.

Chop spinach and basil and mix with chopped artichoke and mayo. 
Cut the chicken thighs into large chunks and thoroughly mix with the rest of the ingredients.  I refrigerated the casserole and when we were ready to eat, I placed the casserole in a 400 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes until it was heated through.  I garnished with leaves of basil before serving.

This certainly satisfied my craving for a "creamy" without the cream chicken casserole.  Next time I shall use the yeast for a cheesy taste.

If you must avoid dairy, you might enjoy this casserole.  It is delicious!








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