Santa Rosa Chicken and Wild Rice Salad

Cody on day one hundred and one. The fourteenth Saturday visit. I want to walk through the visit because the visit was the heaviest thing in my week and the recipe is going to be a lighter thing.

Cody had finished his second short story by the visit. He had it folded in the chest pocket of his orange uniform when he came in. He sat down across from me and Mama at the round metal table. He read both pages of the story out loud at the table, in his quiet voice, the way he had read the first one the visit before.

The story is about a sister at a kitchen counter making chicken and dumplings while her brother is somewhere she does not know. I want to put on the page that the story made me cry quietly into my hands at the visiting table, halfway through the second page, and Cody saw me cry. He stopped reading. He put the story down. He reached his hand across the metal table and put it over mine. The rules of the visiting room allow only that one moment of physical contact, and Cody used it. We sat that way for ninety seconds. He did not try to make me stop crying. Mama did not try to make me stop crying. We sat with it.

Then the visit went on. He finished reading the story. The story ended with the sister setting a plate of chicken and dumplings on the kitchen table for the brother, and the brother walking through the back door, and the door closing behind him. The story is the kind of writing that makes me proud of my brother in a way I do not have other words for. Cody is going to be a writer when he is forty-five.

The recipe Sunday was lighter than the visit. Santa Rosa Chicken and Wild Rice Salad. The recipe is from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe and is the kind of spring lunch that a magazine would call a composed salad — cooked wild rice, shredded chicken, dried cranberries, toasted pecans, diced apple, fine-chopped green onion, all tossed in a vinaigrette of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper.

The math: a 6-oz bag of wild rice from Aldi, $2.99 (the most expensive single ingredient; wild rice is more expensive than regular rice but goes a long way). Shredded chicken from two markdown rack thighs, $1.49. A small bag of dried cranberries, $1.99. A small bag of pecans, $1.99. A Granny Smith apple, $0.69. Apple cider vinegar, olive oil, Dijon, honey from the pantry. Total: about $9.15 for a big bowl that fed Mama and me for three lunches.

The wild rice was the new ingredient for me. Wild rice cooks differently than white rice — you cook it about forty-five minutes in plenty of salted boiling water, like pasta, and drain. The grains burst slightly when cooked and are chewy and nutty in a way I had not experienced. I am keeping wild rice on the rotation list.

The dressing is the part that turns this from a regular chicken salad into a composed one. Whisk together two tablespoons apple cider vinegar, three tablespoons olive oil, a teaspoon Dijon mustard, a tablespoon honey, salt, pepper. Toss the cooled wild rice with the chicken, cranberries, pecans, apple, and green onion. Pour the dressing over. Toss to coat. Let sit for fifteen minutes before serving so the rice absorbs the dressing.

Mama said, when she ate this Sunday night, baby, this is the kind of lunch I would buy at one of those expensive deli places. I have stopped being surprised. The kitchen has earned the deli comparison.

The recipe is below. The trick is the wild rice cooked like pasta in plenty of salted water, drained, and cooled before tossing. Toast the pecans in a dry skillet for two minutes before adding for extra flavor.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes (wild rice) | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes (plus chilling) | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked wild rice blend, cooked according to package directions and cooled
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped (rotisserie chicken works perfectly)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
3 stalks celery, finely diced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or bottled, no shame)
1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook and cool the rice. Prepare wild rice blend according to package directions. Spread it out on a baking sheet or large plate to cool faster. You can do this the night before and refrigerate it.
Pull the chicken. Shred or chop the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces. A rotisserie chicken from the store saves you completely — just strip the meat off and you’re most of the way done.
Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, honey, dill, and garlic powder until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Combine. In a large bowl, combine the cooled rice, chicken, cranberries, nuts, celery, and green onions. Pour the dressing over the top and fold everything together gently until evenly coated.
Chill and serve. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving — an hour is better. Serve cold on its own, over lettuce, or stuffed into sandwiches or wraps.

Nutrition (per serving)

Santa Rosa Chicken and Wild Rice Salad — The Sunday Salad with the Cider Vinaigrette