Chicken Noodle Casserole

I think I have said this before and I will say it again, casseroles are a great dish to make during the week because they are so quick to prepare and don't require a ton of effort. They also make a lot of food, which can be reheated for leftovers at lunch. Some can even be frozen in individual sizes for meals on the weekend or when you don't feel like cooking one evening. Casseroles are a big hit in my house because I usually only have to come up with a small side to serve with them. If the casserole contains bread, potatoes, or noodles, I try to serve a side dish of fruit or a simple salad and that takes no time at all. This recipe can be altered several ways for a different dish each time.

Chicken Noodle Casserole
Serves 6-8 (feel free to cut the recipe in half for a smaller casserole but we like to have leftovers in our house for lunch during the week)

Ingredients:
-1 box (usually 7 servings of pasta) whole wheat egg noodles or any other pasta shape you prefer - cooked according to box and drained
-1/2 cup finely chopped sweet yellow onion
-1/2 cup finely chopped celery
-1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
-1/2 cup diced mushrooms -optional (we use baby portabella mushrooms)
-1 teaspoon minced garlic
-1/2 cup shredded low-fat swiss or cheddar cheese
-1 pound shredded chicken breasts (you can shred a rotisserie chicken from the deli, cook and shred your own chicken breasts, or buy the canned chicken breasts and drain them)
-2 cans of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
-1 cup frozen peas - cooked (we buy the steamable frozen peas and just cook them in the microwave according to directions)
-Pepper for seasoning

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Cook pasta according to box, drain, and set aside.
-In a medium sized saute pan, add a little extra virgin olive oil and saute onions, carrots, celery, and mushrooms for a few minutes. Add the garlic and saute an additional minute.
-Add the sauteed vegetables to the pasta and and stir until well combined.
-Add your seasoned shredded chicken and cooked peas to the pasta and vegetable mix and combine
-Add your cream of chicken/cream of mushroom soup and 1 teaspoon pepper and stir until well combined.
-In a 13x9 baking dish, spray with nonstick cooking spray.
-Add the pasta mixture to the baking dish and top with 1/2 cup of shredded swiss or sharp cheddar cheese
-Bake for 20-30 minutes until bubbly and hot

*Modifications
-You can use white pasta, we just prefer whole wheat in our household
-Any shape of pasta will work just fine, but egg noodles are so pretty in this casserole
-You can use tuna, chicken, or turkey as the meat in this dish
-Feel free to experiment with adding different vegetables

Enjoy! :)