Elegant Chicken Salad Dinner

This meal is great for a dinner party and is simple to serve. If you have a vegetarian joining you, the recipe is easily altered.

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole with hull wild rice
• 1 fresh cucumber
• 1 medium sweet onion
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 small red pepper
• Several stems fresh basil and fresh mint
• 4 medium size boneless chicken breasts
• 1 cup chopped spinach, fresh or frozen
• 2 large Bartlett pears
• 1/2 cup honey, sugar or brown sugar may be used
• Ginger, crystal or powdered ginger, but for best results use fresh grated or jarred ground ginger  
• 3 ounces sliced almonds

Method

Cook rice according to package directions. When rice is done be sure it is well drained and set aside in refrigerator to chill. The chicken breasts should also be cooked and chilled ahead. I prefer a quick cook in microwave. Place rinsed breasts in a shallow glass baking pan, cover with plastic wrap and cook on high for 20 minutes. Skin and clean pears of seeds and stem. Poach them in microwave by placing them in a shallow glass pan with a small amount of water, less than a quarter inch in pan, covered with plastic wrap. Cook on high for 5 to 7 minutes, until they are soft and translucent. Place in refrigerator to chill. Retain fluid from poaching. Next, chop the cucumber, onion, tomato, and pepper into small cubes, about a quarter inch. Mix them into rice. Finely scissor basil and mint into rice and mix well. Using a powerful mixer, mix chicken breasts and spinach into a coarse pate. Now fill each pear half with chicken pate, you may want to create a platform of pate under pear to make your serving size ample. Spread rice into a flat serving dish with shallow sides and arrange stuffed pears artistically on top. For my vegetarian friends I stuff with spinach, cheddar cheese and bread crumbs instead of chicken. This involves making the stuffing and baking it ahead in small baking dishes. Place pears on top of the pre-baked stuffing. Last combine liquid from poaching the pears with honey and ginger in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, whisking or stirring constantly. Allow it to boil for 3-5 minutes, then remove from heat and chill. When it is cool it should be a thick syrup. Spread it over the pears. Cover pears with sliced almonds. Store everything in refrigerator until it is time to serve.

Notes: This recipe needs a lot of preparation ahead of time but provides an elegant, nutritious cold meal that will delight the eyes as well as the taste buds. When I plan to serve this dinner, I do the preparation the night before or early in the morning. That gives me the day to clean or do as I please. When my guests arrive dinner can be taken from the refrigerator, and I am as cool and composed as my meal. I add nothing to this meal but a light salad of greens and olives, both green and black. I usually serve a dessert called Islands of Clouds with this meal. It consists of a rich runny egg custard with baked meringue.

Number of servings: Four

Submitted By: Bette Lynne
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