You know that feeling when you cook a new recipe and you love it so much that you can't wait to make it all the time? This is what happened to me after cooking senior food editor Rick Martinez's Herbed Chicken Salad over Crispy Rice. It's got everything you want for a blah weekday—fresh herbs, lots of texture—and it's the kind of meal that both kids and adults can get down with.
Okay, enough waxing poetic. Here's what you need to know so you can have a similar feeling of zen.
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Cook 2 cups white rice in a large pot of boiling salted water for about 5 minutes until slightly chalky. The goal here is for it to be undercooked. Set aside in a bowl.
Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a medium cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium. Cook 1 large carrot (shredded) and ½ large leek (pale-green and white parts only, thinly sliced), stirring occasionally, under tender... about 6-8 minutes. Season with salt and add to bowl with rice. Add a couple more big pinches of salt and stir it all together.
Here's something I had never done before: Spread a clean kitchen towel on a flat work surface and place a lid (for the medium skillet you already have been using) in the center. Tie four corners of the towel to the handle on top of the lid; set aside. See photo above for reference—basically you are wrapping the lid in a towel. The towel absorbs moisture so it prevents the rice from getting gummy and instead lets it get all crispy and great. But use a towel that you probably don't care too much about—mine got slightly brown, but it's all good.
Heat 4 Tbsp. oil in same skillet over medium-high until very hot and shimmering, about 2 minutes. More of a butter person? Great—this might taste even better with butter. Add salt to the oil—this is very important because it gives the rice a ton of flavor. It's the same principle as pan-roasting chicken thighs; the skin needs to be super well-salted so that it tastes good. Love the salt. Embrace the salt.
Add rice mixture to pan, evenly smoothing the surface and gently pressing into pan to form a tight “rice cake." Cover with the towel-lid and cook rice until browned and crispy—don't bother the rice while it's crisping!! Give it about 8 minutes, or if you are real impatient, we give you permission to check at 7 minutes.
Just scrape a small area on the bottom of the pan to see if it's doing its thing.
While the rice is crisping up, whisk 2 small garlic cloves (grated is best, but minced will work), 4 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard (really, any mustard is fine though), and 4 Tbsp. oil in a medium bowl. Add 2 cups shredded chicken (this is what rotisserie chickens were made for, unless you had already made avgolemono and have the chicken ready and waiting). Season with salt and pepper.
Chop or tear a ton of cilantro and mint (aka roughly 1 cup of each) and add to chicken just before serving. Don't be stingy with the herbs—they really bring the dish together.
Transfer the rice to a platter. Arrange chicken salad over the rice and serve. Eats lots. Like...you-didn't-know-you-could-eat-that-much-rice lots.
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