Hawaiian Haystacks II

Prep Time:

Cook time:

Serves:

Description
The "Hawaiian Haystacks" combination sounds extremely odd, but it has a wonderful taste. Every time it was served in the cafeteria of the hospital where I worked more than a decade ago, I was first in line to get a plateful.

Ingredients

 * 3 C cooked chicken (either cook from fresh or use leftovers)
 * 2 C cream of chicken soup (combined with 1 C of water)
 * 1/2 C celery, sliced
 * 1/2 C frozen or fresh peas (do not use canned)
 * 1 C carrots, peeled & sliced
 * 1/2 C green onions, sliced (include greens)
 * 1/2 C dry Chinese noodles
 * 1 C cheddar cheese, grated
 * 1/2 C maraschino cherries
 * 1/2 C pineapple chunks (canned)
 * 1 C slivered almonds
 * 1/4 C shredded coconut
 * 2 C white rice, cooked
 * Salt & pepper to taste

Directions
In a large pot, combine the cream of chicken soup, and one cup of water so that when stirred, it resembles a thick gravy. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken by broiling, baking or steaming (or use leftovers), and cube into bite-sized pieces. Mix the cooked chicken cubes with the chicken soup mixture into the large pot. (Add another can of cream of chicken soup and more water if there is not enough gravy to cover the chicken pieces). Simmer this mixture while preparing the other ingredients and cooking the white rice.

Note: Use Uncle Ben's Boil-In-A-Bag Rice, or go from scratch using long-grain rice and boil for twenty minutes.

On a serving platter (or in a large casserole dish), layer rice on the bottom. Top with the chicken and gravy mixture, and then layer with the celery, peas, carrots, green onions, maraschino cherries, pineapple chunks and the coconut. Sprinkle the Chinese noodles, slivered almonds and cheese on the very top. Either re-heat on the platter or the baking dish in a microwave or oven (just enough to make the food hot), and serve.