Improvisatory Moment in the Kitchen: Frugal Rice Salad

When it's hot, I don't always feel like cooked food or anything very warm, for that matter. Rice has become one of my favorite foods and a meal with rice almost always sounds like a great idea. The other night, after working outside all day in the park, I wasn't very inspired. Z. was bound and determined to make stir-fry. I looked at the fresh veggies and thought they would also be great raw. I chopped a bunch of vegetables, gave half to Z. to cook, and created a rice salad with the rest. I splashed the rice and veggie mixture with a bit of rice vinegar, olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes. A great improvisatory moment in the kitchen. Use whatever veggies you have on hand. Since I had it, I used:

• cooked jasmine rice
• red bell pepper
• green bell pepper
• red onion
• purple cabbage
• basil
• cilantro

What vegetables would you use?

Enjoy!