Kathy Manweiler: For this recipe, don't worry, get poppy (seeds): Watching fat slices calories in healthy chicken dish

SNEAKING vegetables into casseroles is a great way to make meals healthier, and that's one of the things I did with today's recipe for poppy-seed chicken.

I saw a version of this chicken in the Red Hat Society cookbook, but after looking at the ingredient list - which included a stick of butter, lots of sour cream and a whole sleeve of buttery crackers - I didn't even want to try that recipe. When I did the math on it, one serving had 438 calories and 30 fat grams. If you ate a fried chicken breast from KFC instead, you'd save 68 calories and 9 fat grams.

That recipe was way too high in calories and fat for me, so I threw out the original recipe and designed my own. I started with some chopped chicken and added 2 cups each of diced carrots and celery. For the sauce, I stirred in some reduced-fat cream of chicken soup plus some light sour cream.

I crumbled some reduced-fat Ritz crackers and a few poppy seeds over the top, then drizzled two tablespoons of light butter over the crackers.

What came out of the oven was a delicious and nutritious dinner with just 291 calories and 10.6 fat grams per serving.

KATHY'S POPPY-SEED CHICKEN

2 (10 3/4-ounce) cans reduced-fat,

reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup,

unprepared

1 (8-ounce) container light sour cream

4 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped

2 cups diced carrots

2 cups diced celery

30 reduced-fat buttery round crackers

(such as reduced-fat Ritz)

2 tablespoons light butter, melted

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, chicken, carrots and celery. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and put the chicken mixture into the baking dish.

Crumble the crackers into pea-sized pieces. (If you crumble the crackers too finely, they won't brown.) Top the chicken mixture with the cracker pieces and drizzle the melted light butter over the casserole. Sprinkle the poppy seeds over all and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly and the crackers are lightly browned. (If the crackers brown before the casserole is fully baked, cover the dish with aluminum foil and continue baking.) Makes 8 servings.

Per serving: 291 calories, 10.6 fat grams, 66 mg cholesterol, 578 mg sodium, 23 carb grams, 2.3 fiber grams, 24 protein grams. *

Do you have a favorite food or popular recipe that you'd like to see made healthier? Send your ideas and recipes, along with a daytime phone number, to Kathy Manweiler at

kmanweiler@wichitaeagle.com, or mail to: Don't Say Diet, McClatchy Newspapers, Box 820, Wichita, KS 67201.