Fruity Chicken & Rice Salad

HokiesLady's Note:

From Minute Rice pamphlet. I love the mixture of the brown rice with it's nutty flavor and the sweetness of the grapes and raisins and then adding the chicken - well it is a very healthy meal. Note: Allow at least one hour of refrigeration before serving!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 5

Dressing

• 1⁄3; cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt

Salad

• 1 ¼ cups water
• ½ cup carrot , diced
• 1 ½ cups instant brown rice
• ½ cup raisins
• 2 cups chicken , cooked and diced
• 1 cup red seedless grapes
• 2 tablespoons almonds , toasted and chopped
• 1 tablespoon parsley , chopped

Directions:

1. For Dressing: Mix vinegar, honey, oil, sugar and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
2. For Salad: Bring water, carrots and raisins to a boil in a medium saucepan.
3. Stir in rice, return to a boil.
4. Cover and reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir. Recover and let stand another 5 minutes.
6. Place rice mixture into a pretty salad bowl and then add the chicken, grapes, almonds and parsley.
7. Top with honey dressing and toss.
8. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

Reviews

[MsSally]

This was very good. I made as stated except that I changed the oil to 1 teaspoon and used water to make up the difference. I used this as a "lunch" salad for the week and the only bad thing I have to say is that the rice sucked up all the dressinig and the salad was a little on the dry side. I just put in a dash of blasamic vinegar just before eating and it was fine. Thanks for posting.

[Redsie]

this was nice and refreshing! Didn't add any sugar and should have as it turned out a bit too vinegary (??) to our taste! Did enjoy the mix of grapes, almonds and chicken! Used white rice instead of brown. Thanks! :)

[justcallmetoni]

Summer is here and substantial salads bursting with flavor are high on my list of things to prepare. This salad was just delicious and fit the bill for ease, flavor and texture. Like the posting chef I love the way the nuttiness of brown rice combines with fruits and veggies. In preparing this dish I made a decision early on to replace the raisins with fresh pineapple since it was waiting to be used. The pineapple worked well and was a nice pairing with the lovely red grapes. On initial tasting, felt the salad needed a bit more crunch and flavor contrast with the fruit and added a little red onion but also think that green onions (perhaps replacing the parsley) would fare well. In that same vein, added 1/2 of a diced yellow pepper and think green or red would work well. I loved the tangy sweet dressing but thought paired with the fruit a little more acidity was in order without the sharpness of vinegar so I added about 1 tablespoon of lime juice. These changes really speak to the versatility of the great combinations found here and one which will certainly be repeated. Thanks!