Red Rice Salad with Chicken, Rocket and Grana
The summer one-dish meal with Il Cardinale, grilled chicken, peppery rocket and grana shavings. A lunch to carry, a picnic and a table in the garden.
A salad of wholegrain red rice Il Cardinale Acqua e Sole with cubed grilled chicken, peppery rocket and grana shavings. A balanced summer one-dish meal (wholegrain cereal, protein, fibre from the vegetables), perfect for a lunch to carry to the office or for a picnic. Gluten-free, not vegetarian. Ready in a little over an hour with our Cardinale from Lumellogno, from the Acqua e Sole kitchen in Lumellogno.
When we want the rice salad to be a complete meal, in high summer here at Lumellogno the version with grilled chicken using our Riso Rosso Integrale Il Cardinale is the one we make most often. The nutty grain, the chicken cooked on the griddle, the peppery rocket and the grana shavings build a balanced one-dish meal: protein, fibre, flavour. A lunch to carry to the office or a picnic dish.
The logic of a one-dish meal is just one: the rice must stay the star, but around it there must be enough structure to make a complete meal. The chicken is griddled, left to rest for five minutes and cut into cold cubes before being added. Rocket and grana go in only at serving, never during assembly: the first wilts under the weight of the rice, the shavings of the second break. When the two things go into the dish, it must be time to come to the table.
Ingredients for 4 People
Ingredients
- 320 g Il Cardinale Acqua e Sole rice (wholegrain red rice)
- 400 g chicken breast (4 thin fillets of about 100 g each)
- 80 g fresh rocket, leaves cleaned
- 60 g grana padano or parmigiano reggiano, in shavings
- 1 pepper
- 1 courgette
- 1 aubergine
- as needed cherry or datterino tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 1 clove garlic for the chicken
- 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary or thyme
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- ½ lemon to freshen at serving (optional)
- as needed fresh basil and parsley
- as needed fine salt, black pepper
Notes from Home
- Chicken left to rest for five minutes after the griddle: a compulsory step so it does not lose its juices, cutting it straight away dries it out
- Chicken cold at the moment of assembly: wait for room temperature, otherwise the residual heat cooks the raw vegetables
- Rocket and grana at serving, not during assembly: the rocket wilts under the weight of the other ingredients, the grana shavings break
- Balance of the one-dish meal: one hundred grams of chicken per person is the right amount, beyond one hundred and twenty the ratio with the rice and vegetables goes out of balance
- Storage: in the fridge for twenty-four hours with rocket and grana in a separate container, to be added only when eaten
Method
Cooking Il Cardinale al dente
In a large pan we bring salted water to a gentle boil, pour in the 320 g of Il Cardinale and cook over a lively heat until the grain is al dente. We drain it, rinse it briefly under cold water to stop the cooking, dress it with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and separate the grains. We leave it to cool to room temperature.
A quick marinade for the chicken
In a small bowl we combine a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, the crushed garlic, the chopped rosemary or thyme, fine salt and black pepper. We massage the chicken fillets with this quick marinade and leave them to rest for five minutes at room temperature.
Grilled vegetables
We cut the pepper into strips, the courgette and the aubergine into slices of about half a centimetre. We grill them on a well-heated griddle for two to three minutes per side, until marked but still firm. We transfer them to a plate, dress them with a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper, and leave them to cool. Once cold, we cut them into cubes of about one centimetre.
Cooking the chicken on the griddle
We heat a griddle or non-stick pan well. We lay down the chicken fillets and cook them for about three to four minutes per side over a medium-high heat, until the meat is golden on the surface and cooked through (check with a small cut: it must be white with no pink traces).
Resting and cutting the chicken
We transfer the cooked chicken to a board and leave it to rest for five minutes so the juices redistribute through the fibres. We cut it into cubes of one to one and a half centimetres, or into strips against the grain. We leave it to cool to room temperature.
Tomatoes and cucumber
We cut the cherry tomatoes in half (the larger ones into four). We peel the cucumber and cut it into cubes of one centimetre. We set them aside.
Assembly
In a large bowl we combine the cold rice, the grilled vegetables in cubes, the tomatoes, the cucumber and last of all the cold cubed chicken. We dress with extra virgin olive oil, fine salt and black pepper. If you want to freshen it, add the juice of half a lemon. We mix gently.
Resting in the fridge (optional)
If you prepare the salad ahead, cover it and keep it in the fridge. Keep the rocket and grana shavings apart in a separate container: they go in only when it is time to serve.
Finishing with rocket and grana at serving
When it is time to bring it to the table, scatter the fresh rocket over the surface, then the grana shavings made with a potato peeler or a sharp knife. Perfume it with basil torn by hand, a grind of black pepper and a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil. Serve at once, at room temperature.
The salad we carry into the garden
In summer, when lunch becomes a long, light occasion, at Lumellogno the rice salad with chicken is one of the dishes we make most gladly. It is prepared calmly in the cool of the kitchen while outside the sun beats down on the rice fields, then it is covered and left to rest. The red rice of Il Cardinale, the grilled chicken resting on the board, the seasonal vegetables in cubes, the rocket and the grana kept apart for the moment of the table. When you step out under the pergola and carry the dishes outside, all it takes is a stir and the last two things added: the Novara plain is all around, and the dish tastes of summer and of a long lunch.
Lumellogno · The Novara plain
Il Cardinale, the chicken and the grana: a trio that works
Our Cardinale is the right grain for composed salads, where animal protein (chicken, fish, cheeses) and raw vegetables are added to the cereal. The wholegrain red grain has three advantages over a common rice: it holds up to the encounter with intense flavours without disappearing (the toasted hazelnut note converses with the rosemary and lemon of the marinade), it keeps its structure for many hours after cooking (rice salads are prepared ahead, they must still look good even after hours in the fridge), and it brings a serious nutritional contribution (complex carbohydrates with a low glycaemic index, fibre from the wholegrain husk, natural anthocyanins).
«Il Cardinale, the chicken and the grana are a trio that always works. The hazelnut note of the wholegrain red rice rounds out the sweetness of the grilled chicken and the savouriness of the grana, and it keeps the dish standing even after hours in the fridge.» From the Acqua e Sole kitchen, Lumellogno
We grow it at Lumellogno, the western hamlet of Novara, and we dry it at a low temperature in our drier to keep the vivid red colour and the aromas of the husk. The same grains we put on the table at home for summer lunches in the garden.
Questions about red rice salad with chicken
Which rice should I use for rice salad with chicken?
Can I prepare the rice salad with chicken the day before?
How long does wholegrain red rice Il Cardinale take to cook?
Suggested Pairing
To accompany this summer one-dish meal we gladly stay with our wines of the plain. A young Barbera del Monferrato, fresh and with the right fruit, holds up well to the grilled chicken and the savouriness of the grana without covering the rocket.
For those who prefer white, an Erbaluce di Caluso, just outside our borders, with sustained minerality and good acidity, accompanies the grilled vegetables and the peppery note of the rocket. As an alternative, a young Bonarda dell’Oltrepò Pavese, medium-bodied with soft tannin, goes well with the dish without overpowering it. Avoid important reds that would cover the grilled chicken and whites that are too soft to hold the heat of the rocket.
Riso Rosso Cardinale Acqua e Sole
Our wholegrain red rice, grown at Lumellogno and dried at a low temperature in our drier. A firm grain, separate and crunchy even after hours in the fridge, with the scent of toasted hazelnut and a vivid red colour given by the anthocyanins of the wholegrain husk. The right variety for composed rice salads with animal protein and vegetables, where you need a grain that holds up to intense flavours and long assembly times.
Bring Il Cardinale homeAn original Acqua e Sole recipe, from our kitchen at Lumellogno.