I would like to bring a big salad for a fund raising lunch at school
on Monday. I am thinking of a rice salad. With what I have on hand,
I am trying to imagine a sort of Texas caviar version of rice salad.
I have:

white rice
tomato salsa
black-eyed peas
roasted red peppers in olive oil
carrots
garlic
fresh parsley
cheese

So -- I could cook some rice with a few smashed cloves of garlic
and/or a bit of chicken bouillion powder in the water, then dress it
while warm with the salsa mixed with some oil from the roasted red
peppers. Once it cools, mix in the drained black-eyed peas and
chopped vegetables. Top it with lots of fresh parsley. It will be
served at room temperature.

Should I add some shredded cheese to the salad? Does it sound
edible? I don't want to buy a lot of extra ingredients, but I am
open to suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Tara

"Tara" wrote in message
...
I would like to bring a big salad for a fund raising lunch at school
on Monday. I am thinking of a rice salad. With what I have on hand,
I am trying to imagine a sort of Texas caviar version of rice salad.
I have

white rice
tomato salsa
black-eyed peas
roasted red peppers in olive oil
carrots
garlic
fresh parsley
cheese

So -- I could cook some rice with a few smashed cloves of garlic
and/or a bit of chicken bouillion powder in the water, then dress it
while warm with the salsa mixed with some oil from the roasted red
peppers. Once it cools, mix in the drained black-eyed peas and
chopped vegetables. Top it with lots of fresh parsley. It will be
served at room temperature.

Should I add some shredded cheese to the salad? Does it sound
edible? I don't want to buy a lot of extra ingredients, but I am
open to suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Hi Tara - I don't think it needs the carrots. If the salsa is cilantro-y, I
might forego the parsley as well - or add more cilantro in lieu of the
parsley. What kind of cheese were you going to put in there? Maybe some
small (very small) cubes of pepper jack might be nice.

HTH,

TammyM

On Wed, 14 May 2008 19:47:54 -0400, Tara
wrote:

I would like to bring a big salad for a fund raising lunch at school
on Monday. I am thinking of a rice salad. With what I have on hand,
I am trying to imagine a sort of Texas caviar version of rice salad.
I have:

white rice
tomato salsa
black-eyed peas
roasted red peppers in olive oil
carrots
garlic
fresh parsley
cheese

So -- I could cook some rice with a few smashed cloves of garlic
and/or a bit of chicken bouillion powder in the water, then dress it
while warm with the salsa mixed with some oil from the roasted red
peppers. Once it cools, mix in the drained black-eyed peas and
chopped vegetables. Top it with lots of fresh parsley. It will be
served at room temperature.

Should I add some shredded cheese to the salad? Does it sound
edible? I don't want to buy a lot of extra ingredients, but I am
open to suggestions. Thanks in advance.

It could work quite well with what you have plus a little bit extra.
My inclination is to cook the rice as you would ordinarily. Ditto the
black eyed peas (unless they're canned and don't need cooking). I'd
drain the peas and toss them with the rice. Drain the oil from the
peppers and set it aside. Chop a lot of garlic and put it into a
microwave safe bowl with the oil and zap for a few 30-second rounds
till the garlic is just beginning to brown. Once it's cooled, whisk
in some lime juice (you'll need to buy a couple of limes, sorry). Next
chop the roasted peppers and at least one jalapeno (another purchase,
but I trust the flavor more than I trust tomato salsa) and add them to
the garlic oil and lime dressing. For some crunch, I'd add chopped
red onion and chopped celery to the rice (oops, more purchases -- this
may have spun out of control).

Toss all together with a lot of chopped parsley and S&P and let it sit
for a while to allow the flavors to meld.

I'd think cheese wouldn't be at home in what I'm imagining. Others
may disagree.
--

modom
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