Alton Browns Baked Brown Rice Salad

Ingredients

For the Baked Brown Rice
1 1/2 cups brown rice, medium or short grain
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the dressing
6 slices of bacon
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 recipe Baked Brown Rice, recipe follows
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill.



For the rice.

Preheat the oven to 180 degC.

Place the rice into an 8 inch square glass baking dish.

Bring the water, butter, and salt just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with aluminium foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve immediately.

For the dressing.

In a 10 inch saute pan over medium heat, fry the bacon until crisp. Drain, crumble and set aside. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat.

Add the red onion to the pan and cook until translucent, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the vinegar, chicken broth, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper to the pan and stir to combine. Add the bacon back to the pan along with the rice and cook, stirring occassionally, until the liquid is absorbed, approximately 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the dill. Allow o cool slightly before serving.