Working in food, you come to realise that nothing is new, all food websites and magazines follow the same calendar. And in September that means lunchboxes. You’d think the idea had been done to death, (has no one cottoned on to the fact that you could just make a bit extra at dinner and take the leftovers for lunch?) yet most people I work with rarely bring in their own lunch.

So here’s my two pennies worth. Roast chicken for Sunday dinner? Make the leftovers go really far with this filling, Asian rice salad. Lots of ginger, chilli and soy sauce elevate the brown rice above health food status. I added purple sprouting broccoli for greenery and also because it responds so well to the soy sauce treatment. Needless to say there are a million variations: I would have added toasted cashew nuts if I had them and diced red pepper would work well in place of the broccoli.

200g brown rice, cooked
handful cooked chicken, shredded
small piece ginger, grated
1 lime, juice only
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp olive oil
small bunch spring onions, sliced (or 1 red onion, finely diced)
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 chilli, chopped
½ broccoli, cut into small florets

Mix the rice, chicken, ginger, lime juice, soy sauce, olive oil and spring onions together in a big bowl.
Meanwhile heat a little oil in a wok until smoking, add the garlic and chilli then stir-fry until the broccoli is just cooked. Add a splash of soy sauce and stir the broccoli into the rice.

Tags: brocolli, brown rice, chicken

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