TWICE-AS-NICE CHICKEN AND RICE SALAD (NIGEL)

facebook share image   twitter share image   pinterest share image   E-Mail share image



TWICE-AS-NICE CHICKEN AND RICE SALAD (NIGEL) image

Categories     Salad     Chicken     Buffet

Yield 2 serving

Number Of Ingredients 19

2 chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of half a lemon
2 sprigs thyme
2 garlic cloves
For the rice
250g/9oz brown basmati rice
cinnamon stick
4 green cardamom pods
1 garlic clove
50g/2oz pistachio nuts
60g/2¼oz golden sultanas
150g/5½oz dried apricots
150g/5½oz cherries
handful roughly chopped fresh dill and parsley
For the yoghurt sauce
the leaves of a few sprigs of fresh mint
200ml/7fl oz natural yoghurt
a pinch or two of ground cinnamon

Steps:

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. 2. Roast the chicken breasts on a baking tray for 25-30 minutes with the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic cloves and a little salt and pepper. Set aside to cool. 3. Wash the rice thoroughly - I do this three times, but that is probably more than is truly necessary. Put it into a heavy-based saucepan, tuck in the cinnamon stick, the lightly crushed cardamom pods and the garlic clove. Cover the rice with water to come a couple of centimetres above the rice. Salt lightly, then place over a high heat and bring to the boil. 4. As soon as the water starts to boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cover with a tightly fitting lid. Cook until the rice is tender but still toothsome - about 10-15 minutes. It is cooked when the water has disappeared and there are several small holes in the surface of the rice. Remove and set aside. 5. Cut the cooked chicken breasts into thick pieces and tip into a bowl. Chop the pistachios. Scatter the pistachios and sultanas over the chicken. Slice the dried apricots and stir them through the chicken. Stone the cherries and add them to the dish with some roughly chopped dill and parsley. Remove the cinnamon stick and gently fold the rice into the chicken. Take care not to over-mix. 6. To make the yoghurt sauce, chop the mint and stir it into the yoghurt with the ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Spoon the sauce over the rice as you serve.

There are no comments yet!