PERSIAN CHICKEN SALAD

Once again I turn to my exotic Feast magazine for cooking inspiration. This time, the inspiration was Persian cuisine or Iranian fare, due to the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7^th century. Trademarks of modern day Iranian cuisine include contrasting sweetness with sourness, the use of dried hers, fruits, nuts and flowers and of course rice. The Iranian’s are known for their elaborate methods of preparing rice and for the interesting ingredients they serve it with. My Persian chicken salad is a lot simpler to cook than the recipe Feast published; they use a whole chicken and have to face the arduous task of removing the skin and bones. After a long day, I just couldn’t be bothered, hence the chicken breast fillets (which are healthier by the way). To achieve the sweet and sour taste, you could use eggs, peas, olives, radishes and pickles in your salad. To be completely honest, I bought a jar of pickles especially for the making of this dish but could not muster up the arm strength to open it! I suppose we do need men for one or two things….

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 1/2 cup doongara or basmati rice
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 500g chicken breast fillet, cut into even 4cm pieces
• 1 large tomato, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Dressing

• 1/8 cup 99% fat free mayonnaise
• juice of half a lemon
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard 

COOKING 

1. Bring wild rice and vegetable stock to the boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until no liquid remains and rice is tender. Remove from heat. 

2. Meanwhile, bring white rice and 1 cup water to the boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until no liquid remains and rice is tender. Remove from heat. 

3. Place chicken pieces, cumin, onion, garlic, salt and 1.5 litres of water in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, cooking for 5 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove from heat and drain, reserving 60ml of the chicken broth. 

4. Meanwhile, whisk all the dressing ingredients together, including the 60ml reserved liquid, in a small bowl. 

5. Arrange the cooked chicken, rice, tomato, celery and carrot in a large serving bowl or plate. Drizzle the dressing over the top and serve either warm or cold. 

Serves / 4

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 35 minutes (if you are able to cook the two varieties of rice simultaneously, if not , 50 - 55 minutes)

x E

WILD RICE SALAD WITH SWEET POTATO

Since trying wild rice a few months ago, I have grown to love the nutty taste and coarse texture of this grain. When cooked with vegetable or chicken stock instead of water it tastes divine. The other night I really felt like creating a colourful salad. I found some sweet potato in the pantry and baked it with my favourite spices to pair it with. The tomatoes and baby spinach were tossed in as they are reminiscent of spring and summer for me.  The balsamic vinegar was a last minute touch and worked surprisingly well with the cooked sweet potato and the rice. Whilst the rice takes a while to cook, the recipe is very simple and low maintenance.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into thin wedges
• generous handful of baby spinach, washed and drained
• 1 cup wild rice
• 2 cups gluten-free vegetable stock 
• 300g sweet potato/ kumara, peeled & cut into even 4cm pieces
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground fennel
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil (liquid)
• 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

COOKING

1. Bring the wild rice and the vegetable stock to the boil in a small to medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for around 25-30 minutes or until all water has absorbed. Remove from heat and place in a large serving bowl. 

2. Whilst the rice is cooking, preheat a fan-force oven to 200 degrees celsius. Combine sweet potato, spices and coconut oil in a medium bowl and toss well to combine. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until sweet potato is tender. 

3. Place baby spinach, tomatoes and cooked sweet potato in the serving bowl on top of the rice. Toss well to combine. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the top and toss again, adding more balsamic if you desire. Serve warm. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 12 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 35-40 minutes 

x E

WILD RICE

I have always wanted to try wild rice but never got around to buying it until last week. I have recently been spending a lot of my free time at my local organic store, as food is a real passion of mine (if you haven’t already worked that out!). I saw some wild rice for $45 a kilo, not cheap but not too expensive to put me off it. I purchased a decent amount of it, enough to fill exactly one cup and skipped on home with my puppy in tow to cook. When I got home I faced a dilemma; what to eat wild rice with? The cooking is easy enough, I assume that it is similar to cooking white/ brown rice, however since I had no idea what wild rice tasted like I decided to go for the less is more approach and just added doongara rice & fresh chives. The vegetable stock gave the wild rice a creamy flavour, which juxtaposed nicely with the nutty taste of the wild rice. Definitely something to try if you have not experienced wild rice before. A friend of mine recently combined wild rice with cranberries, balsamic vinegar and aioli…maybe not too good on the waistline but it does sound amazing.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup wild rice, rinsed and drained 
• 1 cup doongara rice
• 2 cups Massel vegetable stock
• 3 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped

COOKING 

1. Cook wild rice first by placing 1 cup rice and 2 cups stock in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat, simmering for around 30-35 minutes or until the stock is absorbed and the rice is tender to taste. Remove from heat. 

2. Cook the doongara rice by placing 1 cup rice and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil and the reduce the heat, simmering for around 10-12 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat. 

3. Place both types of rice in a large serving bowl and sprinkle with freshly cut chives. Serve as a side. 

Serves / 6- 8 as a side 

Total Preparation time / 5 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 50 minutes 

x E