Southwest Brown Rice Chicken Salad is a chicken recipe with a healthy twist. Brown rice is an excellent choice and source of manganese, a trace mineral important to brain and nerve function. A whole grain of rice has several layers. Only the outermost layer, the hull, is removed to produce what we call brown rice. This process is the least damaging to the nutritional value of the rice and avoids the unnecessary loss of nutrients that occurs with further processing. When planning your family’s weekly healthy meals, this recipe is versatile and can be stretched with chicken instead of salmon for the protein on the plate. The recipe below has a similar twist, but is made with quinoa instead of rice.
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One cup of brown rice gives you 88% of the daily requirement of manganese, a trace mineral that also helps the body form connective tissue, bones, blood clotting factors, and sex hormones. It also plays a role in fat and carbohydrate metabolism, calcium absorption, and blood sugar regulation.
Recipe for Life | Brown Rice Salad
This is delicious alongside salmon or you may remove the skin and bones from a deli rotisserie chicken and toss with the salad ingredients. This rendition will serve approximately 4 people.
Southwest Brown Rice Chicken Salad
Serves: 4
1 cup cooked brown rice (room temperature)
1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed (2 cans if desired)
12 grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 teaspoon minced, seeded jalapeno
6 green onions, sliced on diagonal (white and pale green portion only)
1 rotisserie chicken, bones and skin discarded, diced
Dressing
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon chile powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Sea salt, to taste
Place salad dressing ingredients in canning jar and tighten lid. Shake vigorously to emulsify dressing.
Toss the salad ingredients together and add desired amount dressing. Taste and add desired amount sea salt. Refrigerate leftover dressing. Good on other type salads (spinach in particular).
Variations: This is a basic recipe that could be eaten repeatedly because you can use your imagination. You can use it for a vehicle for more vegetables like mushrooms, soy beans, kale, zucchini and whatever else you can dream of. I like the texture of rice and beans with the crunch of the onion. Let your imagination be your guide.
Note: Cook rice according to package directions. I typically cook my rice in chicken stock instead of water with salt added, in order to give it more flavor. To cool the rice quickly, spread a thin layer of cooked rice on jelly roll pan.
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