Retro Chicken and Stuffing

This weekend, we attended a barbecue.  While feasting on traditional fare such as burgers, dogs, and chips, I felt nostalgic for more comfort food.  Consulting my comfort food Bible (a.ka. my gramma's recipes), I came across a baked chicken and stuffing recipe.  While I've made back-of-the box chicken and stuffing before, this one was a bit different.  After mixing the stuffing with water and butter, it was placed in the center of the baking dish and the chicken surrounding. 

I think of this recipe as "retro" since it makes copious use of canned and convenience products.  While I generally try and make things completely from scratch, using a convenience product or two is still way better than a fried fast food meal. It's also easy to make healthier - use low-sodium, low-fat soup, whole wheat stuffing mix, and skinless chicken breasts.  So, I embraced my inner June Cleaver, donned a retro apron, and tucked into a hearty chicken meal.  Served with a vegetable on the side (or added in), it's nutritious and filling.  Happy eating!

One Dish Chicken and Stuffing Bake

1 package stuffing mix of choice (I prefer one with whole wheat bread)
1 1/4 cups water
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 lb chicken tenders or 2 - 0.5 lb chicken breasts, sliced into 4 pieces each
Paprika
1 can reduced sodium and fat cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup milk
1 Tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat 1 1/4 cups of water to boiling and add butter.  Mix until melted.  Combine water/butter with stuffing mixture and spoon down the center of the baking dish (9x13 glass pan works well).  Place chicken tenders or breast pieces along sides of baking dish.  Sprinkle chicken with paprika.  Mix cream of mushroom soup, milk, and parsley.  Spoon over chicken breasts.  Cover dish and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.