Crispy rice salad with chicken & satay dressing
Crispy rice salads are everywhere at the moment! I love that they inspire spontaneity and can work with whatever you have in the fridge and cupboards. My favourite variation is this herby salad base, slices of juicy chicken breast and a satay style dressing made with just a handful of ingredients.
The word ‘salad’ conjures up a lot of gloom-ridden things for a lot of us: restriction, diet culture, lack of substance and something that will leave us feeling headache-y and with an insatiable appetite for the rest of the day. And this is exactly why I’m a big fan of what I call ‘non-boring salads’ (forgive the technical jargon).
Crispy rice salads meet that criteria because they offer substance, a filling element of the salad and a lot of texture and flavour as the rice sucks up whatever flavour you toss it in and bakes until it reaches a happy medium between crunchy and still slightly chewy.
Crispy rice salads are hogging the limelight right now, but you could also experiment with other grains like cous cous or quinoa!
This recipe is also a great one for lunch meal prep because the rice will remain crispy if stored in a separate container and the chicken breast is sliced and left to sit in the satay sauce to keep it from drying out in another container.
This recipe served 2 but as always, this depends on your appetite and usual serving sizes!
Salad (I haven’t detailed quantities here as it’s really not necessary. Add what you like in and add as much as you like. I’ve included suggestions for what works well!)
Cucumber
Baby gem lettuce
Edamame
Radishes
Fresh coriander and mint leaves
Spring onions
Peanuts
Shop bought crispy shallots/onions
Carrot ribbons
Sweetcorn
Satay dressing
1 garlic clove minced
4tbsp smooth peanut butter
1tbsp honey or maple syrup
2tbsp light soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
Chicken
2 chicken breasts
1tbsp red Thai paste
Crispy rice
1 cup/200g basmati or jasmine rice
2tbsp neutral oil
2tbsp red Thai paste
Method
Preheat the oven to 200c.
Rinse your rice with cold water in a sieve to remove as much starch as possible and place into a saucepan. Cover with 2 cups of water. Cover and leave to simmer for 10 minutes on a low to medium heat. When you remove the lid, all of the water should have disappeared and the rice should be cooked and fluffy.
Rub your chicken breasts with the curry paste and add to a baking dish and bake for around 18-20 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165f/75c on a meat thermometer.
Mix the rice well with the curry paste and oil and spread thinly and evenly over a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the rice is crunchy and a little bit chewy but not completely hard.
Whisk all ingredients together for the dressing. Prep and add all salad ingredients to a large bowl.
Slice your chicken breasts and leave to cool before adding to the salad along with the dressing and crispy rice. If you’re prepping this in advance, store the rice in a separate container and in another container, store your chicken slices in the satay dressing to keep it from drying out.