On grain salad, and the luxury of leftovers

Now that it is break, even though I have lots and lots of work to do, I can also laze about and be domestic. I have been cooking up a storm, and actually using leftovers and making things we can eat for lunch and stuff. Today I used some leftover pilaf to make a really nice whole grain salad based on a recipe in my rice cooker cookbook based on a recipe from the Chez Panisse café. At this point it's pretty far from the original, I'm sure, but it is still very pretty and delicious. (The photo makes it look more vivid than it does in life; the cabbage blends in a bit more with the brown of the grains and lentils, and everything is darker and more mellow.)

WHAT I USED
About 2 cups of leftover pilaf, which had been made with brown rice, pearled barley, wheat berries, coriander, and vegetable broth
About a cup of finely chopped red cabbage
Three scallions, all of the white and much of the green part, in thin slices
A couple of tablespoons of minced red onion, since I had a little lying around
A few tablespoons of chopped flat-leaf parsley
A few tablespoons of chopped walnuts
A third of a cup of little French green lentils, cooked in a cup or so of water with salt and dried thyme, then drained.

WHAT I DID
I mixed all of that gently together and then stirred in a vinaigrette of 1 part red wine vinegar to 2 parts olive oil, plus salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Then you need to let it sit for at least an hour to let the flavors do their thing. The original would have you add some goat cheese right before you ate it, and also included golden raisins. No raisins here, and I doubt I will go out and buy goat cheese in time to have it with this batch, at least. It will be good to take for lunches, along with leftover frittata or greens or squash or whatever.

Posted by redfox at December 28, 2003 07:35 PM (recipes) | Comments (2)

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