WW - Chicken, Rice, and Dried Fruit "Salad" - Mixed Review

I'm trying to use things we already have in the freezer - novel concept, I know.  So I pulled out some chicken breasts on Sunday and finally got around to using them today.  Today's recipe is based on the Chicken, Dried Fruit, and Rice Salad recipe from In One Pot, from Weight Watchers Publishing Group 

Chicken, Rice, and Dried Fruit "Salad"

The recipe calls for (how exactly can an inanimate object call for something??) 10 oz roasted chicken - chopped/thinly sliced,1 tsp ground cumin, 1 1/2 tsp saffron - slightly crushed, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 c dried apricots - sliced, 1/4 c golden raisins, 3/4 c white rice, parsley, 1 small red onion-chopped, 1 small red pepper - seeded and diced, 3 tbsp sliced almonds, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 3 tbsp raspberry vinegar.

You start by adding the spices (I used turmeric instead of saffron) to a pot of water (chicken broth) and bring it to a boil.  Stir in the rice ( brown rice) and dried fruit (I added cherries). I also added the red onion at this point since I'm not a huge fan of raw onion.  Simmer until all the liquid is gone - abt 20 minutes - watch carefully so the mixture doesn't catch/burn.  Spread the rice mixture on a baking pan to cool to room temp - abt 20 mins.

Transfer the rice mixture to a large bowl and add the chicken, (onion - this is where the recipe says to add it), almonds, vinegar, and olive oil.  Mix well and serve.  Each portion is 1 1/2 cups.  You can also refrigerate it and serve the next day.

I made a few substitutions from the recipe:

1.  I pan-fried the chicken breasts in abt 2 tbsp olive oil....mostly because when I first read the recipe I thought they were talking about one of those roasted chickens from the store and well....that's not the kind of chicken I had on hand.  I was a little confused about what to do with the chicken breast.  The original recipe says  "(chopped) roasted chicken breast, thinly sliced"  ....ermmm...what?  I ended up cubing the chicken breasts and then shredding the cubes.

2.  I used turmeric instead of saffron because well, saffron is just expensive and I didn't want to potentially waste it on a recipe that I am trying for the first time.

3. I added the onion in with the rice because I'm not a huge fan of raw onion....onion in generally really, but raw is just *blech*

3. I added 1/8 c dried cherries, chopped.

4. I used tarragon vinegar instead of raspberry vinegar - that was BGS's choice.  He tasted the rice mixture and then sniffed the raspberry and tarragon vinegar's to see which one he thought was the best pairing.  He chose the tarragon.  (Good thing too, since I mistakenly took the player's photo with the tarragon vinegar)

All in all, I like it.  BGS said it's boring so I sent it home with my dad who stopped for a visit today.

Update: This dish is FAR better the second day when the rice and the chicken have had to fully absorb all the flavors.  Both of my parents loved the dish and my dad asked for the recipe :)