Chicken and rice

Friday's dinner: Italian Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups, and Persian Rice with Pistachios and Dill.

This is one of my favorite side dishes. I've lost track of how many times I've made it over the last four years!

Start with lots, and lots of dill.



This is probably the freshest dill I've ever used in my life, having come right from the backyard garden. Mmmm...

Parboil rice, drain. Melt butter in bottom of pan, add rice, alternately layering with chopped pistachios and dill.

(forgive the photo; we have the darndest time taking photos of white food)



The crunchy bits from the bottom are prized, reportedly. All I know is, they're good.

And a light chicken salad, in a red vinaigrette dressing; served in cups of lettuce.



I made a few changes to the recipe.

First, I didn't use a store-cooked chicken...I just cooked them at home. I also 'cheated' and used jarred roasted red peppers, instead of cranking up my oven to roast my own.

I also cut the recipe down, as it served 12! There are only three of us, you know...

The rice was wonderful, which was to be expected. The chicken salad was flavorful, without weighing us down with a lot of mayo. Nice dinner.