Lady Luck was with me when recipes for the Kraft From Your Kitchen to Your Country Contest were judged. This very simple recipe was our ticket to Hawaii and the gorgeous Na Pali coast on the island of Kauai. The first picture was taken from the Kalalau Trail, forever etched in this grandmother's memory as one mother of a hike. Tough doesn't begin to describe the rock scramble that's called a trail. Effort and exertion aside, it was a wonderful day that ended with dinner in a "place called Hanalei." Puff had vacated the premises years ago, but the teriyake wasn't half bad and the beer was really cold. The contest that took us there is one that was brand oriented. That means it required the use of a lot of the sponsors products. This version of the recipe calls for generic ingredients. It's simple to make and really good. In the "real" world, I use brown rice, homemade vinaigrette and left over chicken to assemble this. It works just as well with products from the grocery store. Here's the recipe.

Chicken and Rice Salad Veracruz



Ingredients:

3 large navel oranges

2 cups instant rice

1 (14.5-oz.) can low-fat chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup Italian dressing, divided use

2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate, undiluted

1 pound chicken breast strips or shredded deli chicken

1 bunch green onions, white and tender green, chopped

1 cup slivered toasted almonds

1 (10-oz.) package mixed salad greens

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Remove zest of one orange with a microplane. Add to a 3-quart saucepan with rice, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Stir to mix. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Let sit, covered, for 5 minutes longer.

2) While rice cooks, peel oranges, remove pith and cut oranges into segments. Set aside.

3) Pour salad dressing into a 3-quart bowl. Add mustard, sugar and orange juice concentrate; whisk to combine. Remove 1/4 cup dressing for later use. Set aside. Add rice to bowl. Toss to combine and set aside to cool to room temperature.

4) Add chicken, green onions, almonds and orange segments to rice. Toss gently to combine.

5) Toss packaged greens with reserved 1/4 cup dressing, arrange on salad plates and top with chicken-rice salad. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.