Chicken & Wild Rice Salad

A few times a year, when I'm short on time to cook, I buy a smoked turkey from our nearby meat market. I can use the turkey all week to make quesadillas, turkey soup, curried turkey salad, etc. without having to do any meat prep. I stumbled across this recipe when looking for another tasty use for my smoked turkey. It is colorful and tasty - and it even passes as a "salad" minus the lettuce. It was my first attempt at using wild rice, which takes a while to cook, but is definitely worth the wait! Enjoy!

Chicken & Wild Rice Salad

Dressing:
1/4 cup fig vinegar or white whine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbl canola oil

Remaining ingredients:
2 cups chicken broth
1.5 cups uncooked wild rice
1 tbl butter
cooking spray
1 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breast (or turkey)(or grilled chicken)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped almonds, toasted
2 tbl minced red onion

1. To prepare dressing, combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Gradually add oil, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Cover and chill.
2. Combine broth, rice, and butter in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid absorbed (mine took longer than 45 minutes). Remove rice mixture from heat; cool.
3. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 tsp salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 8 minutes on each side or until done. Cool; cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
4. Combine cooked rice, chicken, celery, carrots, cranberries, almonds, and red onion in a large bowl. Add dressing; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill.

Yield 6 servings.