Nice Rice!

Tonight I asked Bill what we used to eat for dinner every night before I started cooking so much. Neither of us could really recall, but I suspect it was a lot of pasta (with jarred sauce ... yikes!), the occasional frozen pizza, and even cereal. Well luckily those days are behind us, and now we can always count on meals like the one I made tonight :)

Flipping through an old issue of Cook's Country this weekend, I landed on a recipe for Greek Rice Salad. I was intrigued, so I picked up what I needed and decided to make it with chicken. Best idea I've had all week!

Greek Rice Salad
Ingredients:
1 cup long grain white rice
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 green onion, green and white parts, sliced thin
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water, rice, and a pinch of salt to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 16 minutes. Spread cooked rice on a baking sheet and cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, combine cucumber, tomatoes, and onions in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a food processor, prepare the dressing by pulsing the feta, olive oil, vinegar, honey, and oregano until smooth. Toss dressing with cucumber mixture. Fold cooled rice into dressed cucumber mixture, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve.

Roasted Lemon and Herb Chicken
Ingredients:
4 chicken pieces (legs, wings, breasts ... whatever you've got!)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green onion, green and white parts, sliced thin
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large Ziploc bag. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray and arrange chicken inside. Cook 25 minutes. Turn oven to Broil, move dish to top rack, and broil 5 minutes. (I didn't think of it until after I prepared my baking dish, but what I should have done was placed a rack on top of a baking sheet and cooked the chicken on that. That would have allowed the juices to drip fromt he rack and ensured crispier chicken. But there's always next time!)


This chicken was delicious, but the rice salad was AMAZING! I don't think I've ever had cold rice before, but it's a genius idea. Even Bill loved it (and went back for seconds!). I think he was a little weirded out by cold rice at first, but it certainly didn't take him long to get over it.

I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow because I'm sure the rice if going to be even yummier after sitting overnight!