Yotam Ottolenghi’s Roast Chicken & 3-Rice Salad

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 60 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4 Servings

When I ask fellow cooks about their favorite cookbooks of the last several years, there is one name that invariably comes up: Ottolenghi. Yotam Ottolenghi’s brand of Mediterranean, vegetable-forward cooking gained followers and fans at his London delis and restaurants, but it found an even wider and more avid audience through his books.

Ingredients

1 organic or free-range chicken, weighing about 3 1/4 pounds (or about 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken meat, and about 4 1/2 cups cooked and shredded)
4 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 heaping cup basmati rice
1/3 cup wild rice
1/3 scant cup brown rice
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
6 green onions, thinly sliced
4 mild red chiles, seeded and cut into thin strips
3 cups cilantro, chopped
4 tablespoons mint leaves, chopped
20 shiso leaves, shredded (or arugula)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Rub the chicken with a scant 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place in a roasting pan and put in the oven for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375°F and continue to roast for 50 to 60 minutes, basting with the juices occasionally, until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature. Reserve the cooking juices.
While the chicken is roasting, cook the rice. Place the basmati in a saucepan with 1 2/3 cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to minimum, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and cool completely.
Place the wild and brown rices in a saucepan and pour in enough cold water to cover the rice by at least 3 times its volume. Bring to a boil and simmer gently, uncovered, for 40 to 45 minutes, until the rice is tender but still retains a little firmness. If the water runs low, top up with extra boiling water. Drain through a sieve and run under plenty of cold water to stop the cooking. Leave there to drain.
Carve the meat from the chicken or simply tear it off in largish chunks. Put it in a bowl large enough to hold the whole salad.
To make the dressing, in a separate bowl, whisk all the dressing ingredients together with the cooking juices from the chicken. Pour the dressing over the chicken and set aside.
Heat the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan, add the onion and a pinch of salt, and fry over medium heat until golden. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Add the 3 rices, fried onion and green onions, chiles, and chopped herbs to the chicken. Mix well, then taste and adjust the seasoning.