Q. I had this wonderful chilled chicken and rice salad at a baby shower recently and asked for the recipe. I was shocked to see how much mayonnaise is added–help!
A. This must be one of those popular baby-shower salads because I could swear I had this salad recently too. I hope you don’t mind but I did a little more than trim back mayonnaise.
I’m always looking for ways to add whole grains, and brown rice is especially good tossed with all kinds of other tasty ingredients as in this recipe.
For the dressing, I cut down the mayonnaise from 1 cup to 2 tablespoons and added fat-free sour cream. I upped the lemon juice for a little extra zing, and some poultry seasoning and olive juice (from the bottle of sliced green olives) for flavor.
I used skinless chicken breast for the diced chicken and just couldn’t help doubling the diced celery and green onions. If you like, you could also double the green olive slices (although I thought the 1/2 cup was perfect); or toast 1/2 cup sliced almonds instead of 1/4 cup and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup over the top of the salad before serving.
The calories went from 725 down to 385, the fat grams from 58 down to 13 and the percentage of calories from fat went from 72 down to 30. And now each serving gives you 4 grams of fiber. This is a nice entree salad for lunch or dinner. It contains a whole grain, a vegetable and a meat. Now all you need is some fruit to garnish the plate!
Chicken and rice salad
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Chilling time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Yield: 4 servings
You can save time by buying a roasted chicken at the supermarket or nearby rotisserie. Dicing up the two skinless breast portions will give you exactly the amount of chicken you need for this recipe.
3/4 cup fat-free or light sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon green olive juice (from bottle of sliced green olives)
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup long-grain brown rice, cooked according to package directions, cooled
2 skinless, boneless breast halves, cooked, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1/2 cup sliced green olives
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted, plus more for garnish if desired
2 green onions, sliced
Salt
1. Combine sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, green olive juice, poultry seasoning and pepper to taste in large mixing bowl until creamy and well blended.
2. Add remaining ingredients to mixing bowl; toss to coat well. Let chill 30 minutes or up to 1 day. Add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a serving platter; sprinkle with more almonds if desired.
Nutrition information per serving:
385 calories, 30% calories from fat, 13 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 675 mg sodium, 45 g carbohydrate, 22 g protein, 4 g fiber
