Brown rice salad – The world’s easiest

When it comes to lunch in my house, I’m usually by myself, or I don’t want what everyone else is having. Another rule is, it has to be simple and quick to make. When I get hungry during the day, I don’t feel like breaking out the pots and pans, I want to eat! Also, the less mess to clean up, the better.

One of my favorite things to do in this situation is take advantage of my leftovers. Since everyone usually wants something different to eat here, when I cook pasta or rice, I make at least double the amount that’s going to get eaten, and set aside some plain so it can be made into something else another day. In this case, we’re talking brown rice. All you need to make a satisfying lunch is some leftover rice, a couple of veggies that don’t need to be cooked, a protein, and a few seasonings and you’ve got yourself a meal.

Brown rice salad

Ingredients

1 – 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice — or more, no one’s judging!
1 can water-packed tuna, drained
1 medium carrot, grated
1/2 cup frozen peas
olive oil
white wine or cider vinegar
salt and pepper

If your rice is coming straight out of the fridge, stick it in the microwave for just 30 seconds to a minute to take the chill off. Put the frozen peas in a microwave safe dish, add water to cover, and microwave for 1-2 minutes to thaw them out, then drain or just use a slotted spoon to scoop them out.

In a bowl large enough to hold all your ingredients without making a huge mess (as I tend to do) toss together the rice, tuna, carrot and peas, breaking up the tuna a little.

In a smaller bowl whisk together 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and at least two tablespoons vinegar. Taste it, you might want to add more. I usually go for almost equal proportions of oil and vinegar, but that might be too tart for some. When your vinaigrette is to your liking, pour it over the salad and give it one last toss. How easy is that?

Obviously this wouldn’t be the world’s easiest if I held you to all those ingredients — that’s the best thing about it. Only the rice and the dressing are essential, and everything else is up to you. You could use hard boiled egg or drained and rinsed canned beans instead of the tuna to make it vegetarian.

Use peppers, corn, olives, chopped tomatoes, fresh herbs, or anything you have on hand instead of the carrots and peas. What, you made too much? Stick it back in the fridge, because all the flavors will meld together and it will only be more delicious the next time you eat it.