Pantry Supper : Rice Salad from Cordoba

It is good to know that your pantry has what it takes to make a nice supper without going shopping. You may have noticed that I get a kick out of shelves lined with attractive ingredients and prepared foods which need just a little nudge from the cook to become a meal. It is also satisfying to have a repetoire of dishes which you can prepare easily from those ingredients, as well as any fresh food, leftover and otherwise, which happens to be on the premises.

This is a one dish cold meal which I copied from a salad I had for lunch at an open air patio restaurant in Spain several years ago. We were there during perfect April weather, and had watched the floats of Semana Santa from our hotel balcony the night before. This substantial salad smells and tastes of Andalucia to me and makes a good warm weather evening meal.

Though it has it's own starch, I still like to have it with a bit of crusty bread, as well as a glass of fino sherry ( or fizzy water, if I don't want to get dozey.) It suits me especially well, because I nearly always have the ingredients on hand. Everyone has different staples they feel lost without. I find all of these useful in various ways, and recommend them for your cupboard and fridge. You may well have them all already.

Quantites are highly adjustable, especially in case of adjusting to what's available. You need:

can of italian oil packed tuna
olive oil
sherry vinegar
juice of a lime
cilantro
parsley
leftover or freshly cooked rice (leftover saffron rice or pilaf is all to the good,plain is fine too)
finely chopped fresh sweet and or mildly hot peppers of assorted colors, as available
chopped scallions and/or red onions
smoked spanish paprika
cherry tomatoes, halved
salt
pepper
hardboiled eggs
oil cure olives

Mix everything together through the pepper, but save a few of the fresh herbs and half the tomatos. Top with hardboiled eggs, quartered; the olives, and the rest of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with reserved herbs and some more paprika. Refrigerate to combine flavors for several hours. This is actually nicest if brought up to room temperature for a bit before eating.

This salad is also very good spooned into separate scoopy leaves of belgian endive, for a starter or for tapas/mezze things. If you do that, you should serve the olives on the side, but incorporate the hardboiled eggs into the rice mix, by grating the eggs with the largest holes of a box grater, or sieving them. If you do not have smoked spanish paprika, you might want to think about getting some to keep on hand. It is good in a whole lot of different things- sort of transformative, even.

Comments

[laura]

I make something rather similar to this except using quinoa instead of rice. It's really delightful! We especially like it wrapped up in a tortilla. :)

[deccanheffalump]

Looks and sound delicious. The best part is that I can make it here as most of the ingredients are available!