Here in France, green salads have one thing in them: greens. I throw in a few diced veggies from the ice box, and I end up looking like a total freak. It's apparently fine to add your own cheese/meat/whatever at the table, but when the lettuce comes to the table, it is, more often than not, just that: lettuce.

Other salads, however, are frequently present at French tables, including ours here in Paziols. A riz composé is a pretty common one. Like so many salads, the ingredient list is a bit haphazard: the point of a riz composé is to use up what you have in the fridge. Add any number of chopped cooked or raw veggies, eggs, ham or lardons, chicken, cheese or anything else you have lying around to cold, boiled rice, toss with some vinaigrette dressing, and there you have it.

The best part is that riz composé is one of those dishes that gets better with age, and it needs no reheating, so any leftovers make a delicious lunch the next day.

emiglia