Chicken and Rice Salad Veracruz

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Years ago, Lady Luck was with me and this simple recipe won a contest that took the Silver Fox and me to Hawaii for 3 weeks. Whether it merited such a prize is arguable, but the salad is very nice, quite easy to make, and I think your family will enjoy it. Regular readers may be surprised to find that the recipe uses convenience or "shortcut" ingredients that aren't present in most of the recipes I feature. That's because these contests were sponsored by food companies who had products they wanted to feature. Winning recipes had to use those products, have clear directions and be prepared quickly. While I've removed the product sponsor's name, I'm sharing the recipe as it was written for the contest. I think you'll like this salad. Here is how it's made.


Chicken and Rice Salad Veracruz...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
3 large navel oranges
2 cups instant rice
1 (14.5-oz.) can low-fat chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup Italian dressing, divided use
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate, undiluted
1 pound chicken breast strips or shredded deli chicken
1 bunch green onions, white and tender green, chopped
1 cup slivered toasted almonds
1 (10-oz.) package mixed salad greens
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Remove zest of one orange with a microplane. Add to a 3-quart saucepan with rice, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Stir to mix. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Let sit, covered, for 5 minutes longer.
2) While rice cooks, peel oranges, remove pith and cut oranges into segments. Set aside.
3) Pour salad dressing into a 3-quart bowl. Add mustard, sugar and orange juice concentrate; whisk to combine. Remove 1/4 cup dressing for later use. Set aside. Add rice to bowl. Toss to combine and set aside to cool to room temperature.
4) Add chicken, green onions, almonds and orange segments to rice. Toss gently to combine.
5) Toss packaged greens with reserved 1/4 cup dressing, arrange on salad plates and top with chicken-rice salad. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

                    

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