Rice Salad with Olives

I ate cold rice salad for the first time in my early teens in the Alpine foothills near Grenoble, France.  My aunt was a wonderful cook and she prepared fresh cool lunches throughout the hot summer which we ate outdoors. My first introduction to French country cooking al fresco.
2 cups cooked rice, I used Jasmine
1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 small can sliced black olives, chopped, about 2 Tbsp

Dressing:
1 Tbsp good real mayonnaise
1/4 cup vinaigrette salad dressing

dash red pepper flakes

Fold together the rice, peas, corn and olives in a mixing bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and fold into the salad. Top with red pepper flakes.

Serves 4 as a side salad, or 2 as a vegetarian main course.

Cook’s Note: This is nice served over a bed of arugula and a few tomato slices as a vegetarian lunch or light dinner.  You can substitute any olives you like here.

Just make sure your cooked rice is soft and not crunchy.  If it seems a bit hard, microwave it and add the dressing to the warmed rice, then let it cool t room temperature.  It should remain soft.  I would advise against converted rice because it will harden more on cooling.