Leftover Creations: Chicken and cucumbers with brown rice

I'm not usually a last-minute dinner person. I try to plan menus or at least have a list of meals I can make with the groceries I have recently purchased. Nevertheless, occasionally I will notice the clock reading 5:00pm and I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to make for dinner. Often I will end up making breakfast for dinner (pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, etc.), but my husband always gets a sad puppy face when he comes home to a dinner of eggs.

So tonight, I scanned my fridge and found 1) leftover grilled chicken, 2) one of many cucumbers my garden has given me, and 3) brown rice. Put 'em all together and you have a yummy, quick, easy, and healthy dinner.

Chicken and cucumbers with brown rice
2 breasts of cold leftover chicken (or other pieces--enough to make 2-3 cups when chopped)
1 med cucumber
1 cup uncooked brown rice
Seasonings to taste

(To add some flavor to this, I added chopped flat leaf parsley and diced white onion, because I had both on hand. Green onion would have been even better. I also drizzled a little caesar dressing on top for the grown ups. For the kids, I left out the onions and topped with ranch dressing.)

Cook rice according to package directions. While rice is cooking, cube chicken and dice cucumber. Gather and chop seasoning items of your choice.

Mix everything but the rice in a large serving bowl/platter. When rice is finished, add it to the bowl and stir everything together. The heat from the rice will just slightly warm the chicken, bringing it to room temperature. Dress, if desired, and serve.

This is also great cold, straight from the fridge. Great for the kids' school lunches the next day!