Rice salad

As the weather warms up I thought it’s time for something a little more adventurous and summery. This rice salad recipe has a fantastic flavour with all sorts going on in your mouth. You just have to try it, the pears and the blue cheese in the rice are such a great combination with the warm chicken and it’s sauce. I rate this as a top summer lunch. (5 – 6 people)

What you need

6 spring onions roughly sliced
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon mustard
6 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon flour
150ml chicken stock
1 apple diced quite small (1cm cubes)
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons fresh cream
Saltt and pepper
Olive Oil

Salad

250g cooked rice
2 pears diced small (1cm cubes)
150g blue cheese
1 red pepper diced small
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
1 tablespoon Sesame oil

The process

In a bowl add the spring onions, about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, mustard and tarragon, then season well with salt and pepper, mix together and toss in the chicken pieces. Toss them around a bit to cover the chicken pieces like a marinade. Set them aside for about 4 hours.

Remove the chicken pieces and shake off any onions. Cook the chicken pieces on a high heat for about 3-4 minutes on each side to brown nicely. Remove and set aside.

Now reduce the heat to medium add all of the marinade to the pan, add the chicken stock and the flour and mix well, add the apples and walnuts and allow to simmer for 5 minutes stirring from time to time.

Add the cream and the chicken pieces and simmer for another 2-3 minutes and remove from the heat.

In a separate bowl add all of the rice salad ingredients, mix them with a fork to separate the rice grains and distribute the colours evenly.

That’s it, serve the chicken over the rice salad with a bit of the sauce. It’s a party in your mouth I tell you.