Indian Rice Salad

This is very loosely adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Very loosely--but the book is all about improvisation, after all. It makes a ton, which is good, because rice salad makes an easy lunch that you can take along without worry about refrigeration or heating.

Indian Rice Salad

1 small head cauliflower, cut or broken into florets

1 large potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch squares

2 T. olive oil (or whatever oil you like)

1 t. salt

1 t. cumin seed

1/2 c. lentils

1-1/2 c. rice (basmati is nice; brown basmati might be even better)

1 c. frozen peas

a 1-inch piece fresh ginger

3 T. rice vinegar

1/2 t. salt

1 T. curry powder

1/2 t. turmeric

1/2 c. coconut milk

2 green onions, sliced thin

Heat the oven to 425. Toss the cauliflower and potatoes with olive oil, salt, and cumin seed on a large (foil-lined) baking sheet. Roast for about 15-20 minutes, or until fully cooked and tinged with brown. Let cool. In the meantime, heat a large pot of well-salted water. When it comes to a boil, add the lentils and cook for 10 minutes. Add the rice and cook another 10 minutes. Add the peas and cook for another 3-5 minutes. At this point, almost all the water might be absorbed--make sure you stir occasionally. Drain and let cool.

In a blender put the ginger, vinegar, salt, curry, turmeric, and coconut milk; blend for about a minute until the ginger is minced and an emulsion of sorts is formed. Get out a large bowl and put into it the green onion, the rice mixture, the cauliflower mixture, and the coconut milk mixture. Toss together well and taste. I needed to add more vinegar and more salt. Serve right away or whenever you're ready. You can make this well in advance.