Santa Rosa Chicken and Wild Rice Salad by Mels Kitchen Cafe

 

INGREDIENTS

Salad:

• 3/4 cup (170 g) wild rice blend (see note)
• 2-3 cups cooked diced or shredded chicken, rotisserie chicken is a great option (see note)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup chopped sugar snap peas, chopped, blanched asparagus works great as a sub
• 1-2 avocados, peeled and diced
• 1 head butter lettuce, chopped (optional)

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup neutral-flavored oil, like vegetable, canola, avocado
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Cook the rice according to package directions. Scoop the cooked rice into a large serving bowl and let cool to room temperature (alternately, the rice can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until needed).
• Add the chicken, bell pepper, peas (or asparagus, if using), and avocado.
• For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a jar or blender and shake/process until well-combined. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
• Pour about 2/3 of the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Add more dressing to taste or for desired consistency, if needed.
• Serve immediately or refrigerate the salad for 1-2 hours (you may want to save a bit of the dressing and toss the salad with it before serving if it has been refrigerated).
• Give the salad a good toss before serving.
• The chicken and rice salad can be served: a) on its own, b) over a bed of chopped butter lettuce, or c) tossed WITH the butter lettuce. Yum!

NOTES

Rice: the rice blend used in this salad is very adaptable! I've used a boxed wild rice blend before, as well as the brown rice medley from Trader Joe's. Another time I made it, I used a rice/quinoa blend I found at Costco (not sure it even had wild rice in the ingredients, but it was still tasty). 

Chicken: this pesto marinated chicken is great in this recipe. 

Make-Ahead: this recipe includes the time needed for cooking the rice; however, you can get ahead of the game if you make the rice before you need it, and store it in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the salad. The dressing can also be made ahead of time (several days!). 

Seasoning: if all you have is seasoned rice vinegar, I'd omit the salt and sugar and then add those ingredients to taste, if needed, at the end.