An Italian-inspired rice salad tweaks tradition for today’s busy cooks

When I first came across Italian rice salads, I was listening to the radio. On “The Splendid Table,” food journalist Russ Parsons was talking about them to cookbook author and chef Rolando Beramendi, and I was captivated.

On the show and in his 2017 book, “Autentico,” Beramendi tells the story of a woman he worked with in Turin: Contessa Rosetta Clara Cavalli d’Olivola. (How fun is that to say, preferably with an Italian accent?) She told him that in the 1960s, when she began making these salads in the summer instead of pasta dishes, friends and family started asking for them, and the idea spread. She would cook Carnaroli rice, a high-starch variety typically used in risotto, in a generous amount of water like you would pasta, then let it cool and toss it with dressing and vegetables. Not just chunks of any old vegetables: ones in season, naturally, but just as important was how small she cut them.

“Can you imagine the labor to take vegetables and different types of ingredients, and chop them up to the size of the rice?” Beramendi asked Parsons in the interview. “It becomes these colorful specks of different vegetables in the rice salad. … That way every bite that you take of the salad it will be a little bit different, and not everything becomes homogeneous.”

At that, I was of two minds. One: It sounded absolutely delicious, and I couldn’t wait to try it. Two: No way was I going to cut multiple vegetables into rice-sized pieces. How long would that take?

I don’t know whether my solution would pass muster with the contessa (who is not to be confused with Ina “Barefoot Contessa” Garten). But when I make this dish, I use my knife mostly for the initial prep of the vegetables — trimming the zucchini, coring the bell pepper and the like. And then out comes the food processor. To make sure things get cut small but not too small, I’m all about the pulse-pulse-pulsing. I save the tomatoes for quick hand-cutting so they don’t get too smushed, but I wouldn’t fault you for throwing them in the processor with everything else.

When I first played with this recipe, I was working on my 2020 book, “Cool Beans,” and I figured cannellini beans would be an ideal addition. I also messed around with the other ingredients, adding parsley, losing the cheese and increasing the ratio of vegetables to rice. When I revisited the idea recently, I threw in a hefty amount of arugula, too, and all of a sudden the result started to remind me of my beloved tabbouleh, with rice instead of bulgur.

I fold the beans into the salad whole, all the better to showcase them. By that point, the whole thing is already dressed, because I like to cool the just-cooked rice in the dressing so it soaks up more of that flavor, which infuses every bite. (It’s a trick I learned from potato salads that I have since applied elsewhere.)

Do my liberties make my version of the recipe seem less, well, auténtico? When I listened again to Beramendi’s interview on “The Splendid Table,” he put me at ease. “I think that we need to encourage people to not be afraid to create their own interpretations,” he told Parsons. “If you like one thing more than another, then do it. If you want to put more olive oil, go for it. I drench everything with good extra-virgin olive oil because I love it so much.”

How could I argue with that? In fact, when I tasted my new version of the salad, it did seem to call for more of a certain something, so I got that bottle of oil and glug-glug-glugged until all tasted right. I like to think that even a certain contessa might approve.

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Rice Salad With Greens and Beans

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons)

1 tablespoon vegan mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, grated or pressed

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed

½ teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more as needed

1 cup Carnaroli or Arborio rice

1 medium zucchini (8 ounces), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium yellow, red or orange bell pepper (8 ounces), stemmed, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 celery rib, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 cups (2 ounces) lightly packed baby arugula leaves

½ cup black olives, preferably dry-cured, pitted

½ cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

One (15-ounce) can no-salt-added cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup (3 ounces) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved and sliced

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper until smooth.

In a medium (3- or 4-quart) pot over medium-high heat, combine the rice with enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, so the liquid is at a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the rice is barely tender but not mushy, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain and transfer the rice to the bowl with the dressing, stir to combine, and let cool slightly while you prep the vegetables.

In a food processor, combine the zucchini, bell pepper, celery, arugula, olives and parsley. Being careful not to overprocess, pulse several times until everything is about the size of a grain of rice, scraping the sides of the food processor bowl as needed. Transfer to the bowl of rice.

Add the beans and tomatoes to the bowl, and gently fold to combine. Taste, and season with more salt and black pepper, as needed.

Transfer to a serving platter or shallow bowls, drizzle with more oil and serve at room temperature, or chill and serve cold.

Servings: 4-6 (makes about 7½ cups).

Substitutions: For Carnaroli or Arborio rice, use basmati or short-grain brown rice, barley or farro, adjusting the cooking time as needed. For vegan mayonnaise, use regular mayonnaise. For Dijon mustard, use yellow mustard. For zucchini, use yellow summer squash. For cannellini beans, use navy beans, great Northern beans or chickpeas. For canned beans, use 1½ cups home-cooked beans. For dry-cured black olives, use Kalamata olives. Don’t like heat? Reduce or skip the red pepper flakes.

Make ahead: The rice can be cooked and refrigerated for up to 4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Nutritional information per serving (1¼ cups), based on 6: 290 calories, 13 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 38 g carbohydrates, 376 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol, 7 g protein, 5 g fiber, 3 g sugar.

— Joe Yonan