Red cabbage and rice salad

A good thing to do with red cabbage is to eat it raw, in a salad with rice.

Chop a quarter of red cabbage finely, and soak it in water. Cook 150g of rice in whatever way works for you. (Some of my thoughts on the subject are here and here.)

While the rice is cooking, pour boiling water on to a large handful of raisins, to soften them and plump them up. Put a handful of pine kernels into a dry saucepan, and set them over a low heat until toasted. Stir them occasionally, and keep a careful watch so that they do not burn.

Make a vinaigrette by stirring together a dstsp of red or white wine vinegar with three dstsps of olive oil, salt, and plenty of pepper. (You might want to dissolve the salt in the vinegar before whisking in the oil.) Soy sauce and a little fish sauce are nice additions; also, you can substitute some of the olive oil with sesame oil.

Drain the cabbage, pat it dry with paper towels, and mix it with the rice, drained raisins, pine kernels, and vinaigrette. Serves three to four.