If you all haven’t realized it by now, we eat a lot of rice around here. And chicken. And chicken and rice. I love this dish because it feels so different from a typical chicken and rice combo. It is cool, fresh, and satisfying without being heavy. I hesitate sometimes to make it for company, because it is a little unusual, but it has unfailingly been met with rave reviews when I have. It travels well, is great for lunch, dinner, picnics, and parties, and can be made ahead since it’s served at room temp.

I am going a little bit off course here, in that the recipe is long and kind of complicated, and I haven’t done much to make it easier. Instead I tried to break it down into more digestible stages, and leave you a little room for a break towards the end. I left the ingredient list intact, but changed the proportions to suit my taste. Like me, you might question the fish sauce, but you just have to trust Ottolenghi. He knows what he’s doing. If you don’t have it, you can substitute something else salty, but the flavor will be a little different. The original recipe calls for 3 rices: basmati, wild, and brown. If you can find a wild rice blend like I use here, it helps a teeny bit with prep and cost.

This is sort of a front loaded recipe, meaning if you follow the steps and start cooking/chopping everything as soon as the chicken goes in the oven, you have about 40 minutes of active food prep time, then about 20 minutes to have a glass of wine before it’s time to take the chicken out and pull everything together. I suppose you could do some dishes during this time (there are a lot, I know) but I recommend waiting so your significant other can take care of them later. 🙂

The length of the recipe time is dictated by the chicken. It cooks for over an hour. I don’t even include the knife cuts in the ingredient list, because you will have so much time to take care of the vegetables as the chicken roasts. Just be sure to set a few timers, as there are several (hands off) things happening at once!

Ok so if I haven’t scared you off by now, I hope you enjoy this as much as I do, and make it frequently despite the investment. The good news is, it makes a ton of food. So if you don’t mind repeating, you can eat it again tomorrow. And maybe again the next day. 🙂

Herby Chicken & Rice Salad

Recipe by Too Many SpoonsCourse: Main Dish SaladCuisine: Rice Salad

Servings

6-8

servings

Cost

Total time

hour

minutes

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
6 Tbsp olive oil, divided
3/4 cup wild rice blend
1 cup basmati rice
4 2/3 cup water
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1 white or yellow onion
4 scallions
10 mint leaves
2 red chili peppers
1 cup cilantro or parsley (The flavors are different, but both work well)
3 cups arugala
4 Tbsp lemon juice, from 1-2 lemons, plus some to taste
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp fish sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425. Put the chicken in a small roasting pan, rub the skin with 2 Tbsp olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper, inside and out. Roast for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 375 and roast another 60 minutes. When the chicken is done, it should be nearly falling apart. Transfer it to a plate to cool, and keep the pan juices aside to use in the dressing.
Meanwhile…During the first 10 minutes cooking time, put the rices on to boil: Rinse them well (separately), until the water runs clear. In one small pot, combine the wild rice blend with 3 cups water. Add 1/2 tsp salt, bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cook uncovered for 40 minutes. In a second small pot, combine the basmati with 1 2/3 cup water and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
For both: when the rice is tender, drain any excess water, and transfer to a plate to cool. Give them a little stir every so often to encourage the cooling-you want to make sure they won’t wilt the greens later.
Now you have the rices cooking, and the chicken in its second (longer) round at lower heat. Time to cut the veggies: Cut the onion in half, thinly slice, then cut through the slices to halve again, for quarter-onion sized slices. Thinly slice the scallions and the mint. Seed the chilis, and finely chop. Roughly chop the cilantro and arugala. Keep the onion aside, but you can put everything else in one big bowl.
Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion, season with a little salt, and cook over medium heat until starting to char at the edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Make the dressing: In a small bowl, combine the 4 Tbsp lemon juice, sesame oil, fish sauce, and remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil.

Now is when you can take a little break, if you’d like. The chicken isn’t done yet, right? If the wild rice isn’t tender yet just keep an eye on that. I’ll meet you back at step 6.
When the chicken is fully cooked, add the pan juices to the bowl with the dressing, and whisk it all together.
When the chicken is cool, peel off the crispy skin bits for a snack, then shred the meat and add it to a large serving bowl. Pour the dressing over the shredded chicken, and let it sit 5 minutes.
Add EVERYTHING else to the bowl with the chicken: The rice, onion, scallions, mint, chilis, cilantro, and arugala. Toss it all together. Serve with an extra squeeze of lemon and maybe a little drizzle of olive oil.