Sleep Late, Then Do Lunch

Sunday brunch has given way to Sunday lunch for many people. Because lunch comes later, it’s more convenient to put together: You don’t have to awake at dawn to entertain your friends. The food at lunch is typically more varied and lighter than brunch food. And maybe, after a good lunch, supper can be a simple sandwich.

Recently, I had four friends over for a casual Sunday lunch of warm duck and wild rice salad with biscuits. These are comforting foods that go extremely well together. They are easy to make, too, especially if you keep cooked wild rice handy in the freezer. Dessert, easily made ahead of time, was striped parfaits with apricot-orange sauce that can be layered with vanilla ice cream or yogurt and kept in the freezer. During lunch, it’s best to let the parfaits rest at room temperature so they are not frozen solid.

WARM WILD RICE AND DUCK SALAD

Duck breasts are a quick, flavorful poultry choice. Here, they are thinly sliced and placed on a warm wild rice salad with crunchy red cabbage and celery. The salad components--duck, dressing, wild rice mixture--can be prepared a few hours ahead, but pulling it all together is a last-minute process.

4 duck breasts, skinned, trimmed of visible fat, blotted dry with paper towels

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/3 teaspoon allspice

Freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

6 tablespoons cider vinegar

3 cups cooked wild rice, room temperature

1 cup finely diced celery

1 cup finely diced red cabbage

1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions

3 cups watercress leaves

2 tablespoons minced parsley

Rub duck breasts evenly with mixture of 3/4 teaspoon salt, allspice and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. When hot, sear seasoned duck breasts, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Set aside on plate. (Can be cooked to this point 2 hours ahead and refrigerated.) Do not clean skillet.

Put remaining 2 tablespoons oil, honey, balsamic and cider vinegars, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste in same skillet. Bring to simmer; add any accumulated duck juices. (Recipe can be prepared ahead to this point and kept at room temperature.)

To serve, gently reheat dressing if made ahead. When hot, add duck breasts (and juices). Gently warm. Use tongs to remove breasts to cutting board; cut each breast in thin diagonal slices.

Mix rice, celery, red cabbage and green onions. Pour all but 1 1/2 tablespoons hot dressing over rice mixture; toss well. Adjust seasoning.

Arrange watercress leaves around edge of large serving platter. Mound rice mixture in center; garnish with parsley. Arrange duck slices attractively over rice. Drizzle reserved dressing over sliced duck. Serve immediately.

Note: for 3 cups cooked wild rice, bring 2 cups water to boil in 2-quart saucepan. Add 1 cup wild rice; bring back to boil. Simmer, covered, until water has been absorbed and rice is cooked to taste (it can be al dente or fluffy), about 30 to 50 minutes. Since wild rice freezes well, double the recipe while you’re at it and keep the excess in the freezer.

6 servings. Each serving:

262 calories; 555 mg sodium; 44 mg cholesterol; 10 grams fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 16 grams protein; 0.76 gram fiber.

ORANGE-APRICOT PARFAITS

Although many recipes like this one call for uncooked eggs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has found them to be a potential carrier of food-borne illness and recommends that diners avoid eating raw eggs. The parfaits can be made without the egg, but the apricot layer will not thicken as well.

1/4 cup dried apricots (about 10 small)

1 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg, separated

Pinch salt

2 pints low-fat vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, slightly softened

Simmer apricots, orange juice, liqueur and water in small heavy saucepan, covered, until apricots are soft, 5 to 20 minutes depending on freshness of fruit. Cool.

Puree mixture in food processor until it is as smooth as possible.

Return mixture to saucepan. Whisk in sugar and egg yolk. Cook over medium-low heat until very warm and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes, whisking almost constantly. Remove from heat.

Use mixer to beat egg white with salt until it holds its shape but is still shiny and moist. Gently fold into warm apricot mixture. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate.

To assemble, put 1 tablespoon apricot mixture into each of 6 long-stemmed wine glasses. Top each with 1/4 cup ice cream, then 1 tablespoon apricot mixture. Repeat layers, ending with apricot, until evenly divided. Freeze up to 3 days, covering each airtight.

To serve, soften slightly by warming at room temperature about 20 minutes.

6 servings. Each serving:

210 calories; 111 mg sodium; 35 mg cholesterol; 1 gram fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.24 gram fiber.