Wild Rice Chicken Salad

This recipe uses two of my favorite easy cooking techniques  – the best way to cook brown rice, and the other for the most delicious roasted chicken ever.

First up, the rice.  Now, I’ll be honest – when my Mom first told me about this new way she’d discovered to cook brown rice, I was pretty skeptical. I didn’t try it for a few months; but once I did, boy, was I a believer.  You’ve got to try this.  And don’t wait as long as I did – do it now!  First you measure out your rice – for this recipe I used a combo of wild rice and brown rice but it would work just as well with any kind of rice.  I wouldn’t use white rice in this recipe, but any other kind would do.  I used 3 cups of rice.

Mixed the two kinds together and spread it into a baking dish with 4 2/3 cups boiling water.

I added two pats of butter and a little drizzle of olive oil.  Then, you just cover the whole thing with some aluminum foil.

Next, get your chicken ready. I used the three simple ingredients you need for perfect roasted chicken – olive oil, salt and pepper.  You can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts (that’s what I used for this recipe) or you can use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts with this technique.  Either works just as well.  Just drizzle the olive oil over the chicken – don’t scrimp – and add a nice generous shake of salt and pepper over each piece.

Stick both in a 375* oven together – simple!

Take the chicken out after 40 minutes and let it rest for 10 minutes before you chop into cubes.

The rice needs to cook for about 20 – 25 more minutes (60 – 70 minutes total).  When you take it out, it’s the most perfect fluffy rice ever.  The best part? None of it is annoying stuck on the bottom of the pot.

The rest of the salad is easy. Just thaw out 2 cups of frozen peas and put into a large bowl.

Add 2 cups of dried cranberries.

The green parts of two green onions.

You’ll of course also add in all of the rice and the chopped chicken to the bowl.  Next you’ll need to make a simple dressing.  Just take 3/4 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup red wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, 2 teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of pepper.

My secret ingredient in the dressing – 3 – 4 tablespoons of the juices from the chicken.  Yum!

Mix that all together and you’ve got your dressing.

Just toss all the ingredients together with the dressing, and you’re all set. You can eat it right away when it’s warm, or wait and serve it cold or room temperature – it’s delicious regardless.  Enjoy!