Rice Salad: The French Connection

Although we don’t usually associate rice with French cuisine, rice salad is very popular in France. In fact, France’s most famous chef, Escoffier, wrote a whole cookbook on rice and recorded many traditional rice salads. Unlike many classic dishes, these salads are simple and often combine just a few ingredients. Salade andalouse matches the rice with garlic vinaigrette, onion, parsley, sweet red peppers and tomatoes. Salade des moines has rice, asparagus, chicken, mustard vinaigrette and a sprinkling of black truffles.

For salads, it’s best to cook the rice like pasta, in plenty of boiling salted water until it’s tender but slightly al dente. If overcooked, the rice will be gummy and the grains will clump together. The cooked rice is rinsed with cold water, which also prevents sticking.

Clear vinaigrette is the preferred dressing because it allows the salad’s colors to show. Because vinaigrette is light, it mixes easily with the grains without crushing them. The classic version uses vegetable oil and wine vinegar, but olive, walnut and hazelnut oils also give delectable results, as do herb vinegars and lemon juice.

I used to moisten six servings of rice salad with 3/4 cup of vinaigrette. For lower-fat cooking I now use a third to half as much dressing.

French and Italian rice salads often feature capers, olives, anchovies, pickles, or herbs such as basil, dill, cilantro, tarragon or mint. Seasoning the salad well with salt and pepper is important so it won’t be bland.

You can accent rice with seafood, poultry, meat or cooked or raw vegetables. Cooked salmon, shrimp, crab meat or lobster makes a delicious rice salad; so does lox, smoked fish or even canned tuna. Roast chicken, turkey and beef, either home-cooked or purchased, are good additions too.

Italian rice salads often call for a little prosciutto and thin strips of cheese. Cooked peas, carrots, raw or roasted peppers or diced tomatoes are colorful partners for the rice. You can even add fruit in small amounts for a delicately sweet accent; I especially like dried cranberries for their beautiful color and sweet-tart flavor.

White rice provides the best background for dramatic color contrast with other ingredients, but other types of rice give interesting taste variations. I usually cook enough rice for two meals, especially if I’m using brown or wild rice, which take longer to cook than white rice. This way it’s easy to have rice salad ready quickly. Quick-cooking brown rice and aromatic rice such as pecan rice are also good choices.

Rice salad is a great accompaniment for cold roasted chicken, turkey or beef, or for hot grilled poultry or meat. It can also be a light main course and is perfect for a potluck dinner, picnic lunch or a buffet table. For an attractive presentation, you can spoon rice salad onto a bed of lettuce or serve it inside tomatoes, avocado halves, cooked artichoke bottoms or pepper halves.

*

Summer and early fall are the best seasons to enjoy this cool dish, when the tomatoes are beautiful and perfectly ripe. At other times of the year, you can serve the tasty, easy- to-make chicken-rice salad with its herb and caper dressing on a bed of lettuce instead.

TOMATOES STUFFED WITH CHICKEN-RICE SALAD WITH TOASTED PECANS Salt 1 1/4 cups long-grain white rice 2 celery stalks, diced 1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken or turkey 3/4 cup pitted green or black olives, quartered lengthwise 1/4 cup chopped basil or cilantro 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 2 teaspoons capers, drained 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 4 1/2 to 6 tablespoons olive oil Freshly ground pepper 6 large tomatoes 1/3 cup pecan halves, toasted

Boil about 2 quarts water in large pan and add dash salt. Add rice and boil uncovered until just tender but still firm, 12 to 14 minutes. Check by tasting. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain well.

Mix rice with celery, chicken, olives, basil, parsley and capers in large bowl.

Make vinaigrette dressing by whisking thoroughly vinegar, oil, and salt and pepper to taste in small bowl. Add to rice mixture and mix gently. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more oil and vinegar, if desired. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

Halve tomatoes horizontally. Remove interior with teaspoon, leaving layer of pulp attached to skin to form shell. Turn tomatoes over on plate and leave to drain about 30 minutes.

Halve pecans lengthwise, then crosswise. Set aside 12 pecan pieces. Stir remaining pecans into salad. Fill tomato halves with salad, mounding filling. Set 2 pecan pieces on each one. Serve within 1 hour. Makes 6 servings as appetizer or light main course.

*

This is one of the prettiest of salads--the snowy white rice is dotted with green peas, sweet red peppers and pieces of black olives.

RICE SALAD WITH PEAS AND PEPPERS 3/4 pound sweet red peppers Salt 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (green and white parts) 1 1/2 cups fresh shelled or frozen peas, cooked 3/4 cup pitted black olives, quartered lengthwise 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 2 teaspoons capers, drained 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 4 1/2 to 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Freshly ground pepper

Broil sweet red peppers about 2 inches from heat source, turning often, until blistered and charred, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to bowl and cover, or place in plastic food bag and seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel, using paring knife. Halve peppers and remove cores. Pat peppers dry with paper towels. Dice peppers.

Boil about 2 quarts water in large saucepan and add dash salt. Add rice and boil uncovered until just tender but still firm, 12 to 14 minutes. Check by tasting. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Combine rice, roasted sweet red peppers, green onion, peas, olives, parsley and capers in large bowl and mix well.

Make vinaigrette dressing by whisking thoroughly vinegar, oil, salt and pepper to taste in small bowl. Add to rice mixture and mix gently. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more oil and vinegar, if desired. Serve cool or at room temperature. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

*

Dried cranberries give this quick and easy salad a beautiful color, but you can substitute raisins or currants. The salad makes a lovely accompaniment for cold chicken or turkey.

RICE SALAD WITH DRIED CRANBERRIES AND NUTS Salt 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons herb vinegar or white wine vinegar 3 to 4 1/2 tablespoons oil Freshly ground pepper 1/4 cup minced green onions or sweet white onion 1/4 cup dried cranberries 1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped walnuts 1/4 cup chopped mint

Boil about 2 quarts water in large saucepan and add dash salt. Add rice and boil uncovered until just tender but still firm, 12 to 14 minutes. Check by tasting. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain well.

Whisk vinegar with oil, salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently with rice. Add onion, cranberries and walnuts and mix gently. Add mint. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more oil and vinegar, if desired. Serve cool. Makes 6 servings.