Herby Chicken and Rice Salad

Hello, welcome to Sunday Supper! Last week we had a delicious Indian-inspired chicken and rice dish, and this week we have another chicken and rice recipe. Today, Herby Chicken and Rice Salad – a perfect summertime chicken and rice dish. We are using a store-bought rotisserie chicken, making this an easy, quick salad to throw together for a hot day’s dinner. Let’s get right to it!

This recipe is by Emily Nunn. She has a newsletter called “The Department of Salad: Official Bulletin”, which I subscribe to, and quite enjoy. This recipe though, came from a feature in May’s Southern Living magazine called, “Lost Salads of the South”. It’s a great feature with a bunch of great salad recipes.

The Dressing

The prep for this salad is pretty straight forward. Let’s start with blending the dressing. Start with 1/2 cup of loosely packed herbs like; dill, parsley, tarragon, and chives. I have tarragon, parsley and the green parts of a scallion. Use a combination that you like. Combine the herbs in a blender with olive oil, lemon juice, honey, mustard, shallot, kosher salt and black pepper.

Blend the ingredients until the mixture is smooth. Set this aside and we will move on to the rest.

Salad Ingredients

In addition to the rotisserie chicken, we have small Persian cucumbers, multicolor cherry tomatoes, celery, more fresh herbs, feta cheese and toasted sliced almonds.

Once I cooked the Basmati rice in my rice cooker, I spread it out on a sheet tray to slightly cool. We will use about 2 cups of cooked rice for the salad. We will also use about 2 cups of the rotisserie chicken. I had a small rotisserie chicken, so I pulled and shredded the meat from the whole bird.

For the sliced raw almonds, just toast them over low heat in a dry skillet. Shake the skillet frequently and when the almond slices begin to get a toasty golden color, cut the heat and set aside.

Add the rice, almonds, tomatoes and celery to the large bowl with the shredded chicken. Pour the dressing over the salad and use a silicone spatula to thoroughly mix and coat everything in the dressing.

Crumble the feta over the dressed salad and sprinkle on the chopped parsley, mix again. Then transfer the dressed Herby Chicken and Rice Salad to a serving bowl. Season with flaky finishing salt and black pepper.

And that’s it! Serve the salad at room temperature. It keeps really well in the fridge for leftovers, too. A simple, yet hearty salad perfect for a warm summer Sunday Supper. I do hope you give this one a try. Take care and be well, xo Kelly

Key Equipment

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Herby Chicken and Rice Salad

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Dinner, Main Course, Side Dish, Lunch – American

By Emily Nunn, via Southern Living Magazine – Serves: 4-8

Prep Time: 30 Minutes (plus rice-cooking time) – Cooking Time: NA – Total Time: 30 Minutes (plus rice-cooking time)

A fresh Herby Chicken and Rice Salad is perfect for a hearty, yet light Sunday Supper; with feta, crunchy veggies and toasted almonds.

Ingredients

• Herby Dressing
• 1/2 cup Loosely Packed Fresh Herbs, like Dill, Parsley, Tarragon, Chives
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 Small Shallot, chopped
• 1/2 tbsp. Dijon Mustard
• 2 tsp. Honey
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• Salad
• 2 cups Shredded Rotisserie Chicken
• 2 cups Cooked Basmati Rice, cooled
• 2 cups Halved Cherry tomatoes
• 1.25 cups Sliced Persian Cucumbers (or mini cucumbers)
• 1/2 cup Sliced Celery
• 1 cup Sliced Almonds, lightly toasted
• 1/2-1 cup Feta Cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup Chopped Parsley
• Flaky Finishing Salt (optional)

Instructions

Dressing

1

Combine the herbs in a blender with olive oil, lemon juice, honey, mustard, shallot, kosher salt and black pepper.

2

Blend the ingredients until the mixture is smooth. Set this aside.

Salad

3

Add the rice, almonds, tomatoes and celery to the large bowl with the shredded chicken. Pour the dressing over the salad and use a silicone spatula to thoroughly mix and coat everything in the dressing.

4

Crumble the feta over the dressed salad and sprinkle on the chopped parsley, mix again. Then transfer the dressed Herby Chicken and Rice Salad to a serving bowl. Season with flaky finishing salt and black pepper.

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