This is a really great dish that can be enjoyed warm, room temp, or even cold the next day. Now, I am a huge lover of fresh herbs. They add such a lively flavor to your food then you need much less salt. Lemon juice and zest also work well in most dishes, sweet or savory. Now get off your butt and head to your local Trader Joe’s and buy a herb pot. They are so cheap and they usually come with a great mix of herbs for under $5. This is also great made with left-over rotisserie chicken. mmm
Brown Rice Salad with Chicken
- 1 cup brown basmati rice
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts*, or left-over roasted chicken
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- a few pinches of fresh thyme or oregano (dried is ok, fresh is better!)
- 6 green onions, finely sliced
- handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
- A pinch dried chili flakes, optional but tasty
- 2 ripe avocados, diced (add only at time of serving, they will get slimy in the leftovers)
Cook the brown basmati rice and allow it to cool. While the rice is cooking, heat 1 Tbsp oil in a nonstick pan over a med-high heat and sauté the chicken, garlic and thyme for 3–4 minutes until golden, lower the heat if the garlic is getting too brown. Burnt garlic doesn’t taste good. Ensure that the chicken is cooked through.
To make the dressing, combine the remaining oil, vinegar and garlic and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer the rice to a serving bowl, stir in the chicken, green onions, tomatoes, avocados and chili flakes. Pour over the dressing and toss thoroughly. If you are not going to eat right away don’t put the tomatoes and avocado in it. Those items can also be served in separate bowls for eaters to garnish themselves.
*Koshering chicken
is a simple, flavorful step to making your chicken dish taste wow instead of dry.
2 quarts of water, 1 cup kosher salt. Dissolve salt in the water, add the chicken and let sit in the fridge for an hour. You can also make a weaker brine and let sit overnight. Rinse, and pat dry before use. If you are only making a few pieces of chicken you can make less brine just use the ratio above.
