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Confetti rice salad – celebrate!

by Jeanne Horak on March 12, 2012 17 Comments in Gluten-free, Leftovers, Pasta & rice, Vegetarian

ConfettiRiceSalad © J Horak-Druiff 2013

 

A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all – he’s walking on them – Leonard Louis Levinson

It’s a simple fact that there are those of us in this world for whom the glass is half empty and those for whom the glass is half full; think about the people you know and I will bet you can put each and every one of them into one of these two categories. Me?  My glass is almost always half full.  There may be an hour or two of yelling and swearing before I drink the glass (!), but I am seldom in any doubt that it is half full. It’s always interested me – how some people with relatively problem-free lives can spend practically all day moaning;  while others soldier fairly cheerfully on through all manner of disasters with seldom a complaint.  With all the recent interest in happiness, its pursuit and how we measure our own happiness (witness the slew of books on the topic available on Amazon), there have been some studies into the topic – and the results may surprise you.

We’ve all heard that your weight has a natural “set point” – the equilibrium at which your body is most comfortable.  Yes, you can gorge or diet and change your weight, but left to its own devices there is a weight at which your body is comfortable and which it will gravitate towards if given the opportunity.  Similarly, there is apparently a set point of happiness for each individual, which remains roughly the same despite external variables.  For examples, studies have shown that both able-bodied people who become paraplegic and lottery winners who become millionaires overnight will experience an immediate decrease or increase in their levels of happiness – but within a few years both groups return to being about as happy as they were before the life-changing event.  It’s like we all have a built-in self-righting mechanism that returns us to our natural equilibrium level of happiness. Of course, different people may take more or less time to recover; different events take longer to recover from; and some things like chronic pain or long-term extreme poverty can permanently decrease your level of  happiness.  But I always think of my mom who spent the last 7 years of her life on dialysis and in renal failure (and eventually in a wheelchair) but continued to have more joie de vivre in her little finger than my perfectly healthy father had in his entire body!

So where does our tendency to be happy (or unhappy!) come from, if not from outside events?  A large portion of it is determined by genetics – so if you had pessimistic parents, it is unlikely that you will be a raving optimist.  Still, genes don’t determine all of your capacity for happiness – they simply offer you a range of potential happiness and it’s up to you whether you operate at the top end or the bottom end of the range of your happiness.  A nice analogy I’ve seen describes it like this:  you may live in the house you inherited from your parents, but you make the choice of whether to live in the dank basement with a bare lightbulb and rats for company; or in the lovely big, airy room on the top floor with a view of the mountains.

 

ConfettiRice1

 

It’s often easier to play the “glass half empty” role.  When Jane asks Mary how she is and Mary says “terrible – my boyfriend cheated on me and my car broke down!” then this naturally leads to an outpouring of sympathy from Jane (which makes Mary feel better) and the chance to share stories about how Jane’s ex-boyfriend also cheated on her and her car also broke down once, and the chance to bond over these shared misfortunes. If Mary replies “I’m doing great!”, bonding over shared misfortunes is unlikely. If you look at Twitter, Facebook and blogs you will find them choc-a-bloc full of people sharing every detail of their relationship, midlife crisis, health, financial and other troubles. My own husband comes home and every night and tells me only about the annoying or frustrating things that happened at work! But for all my swearing, slamming of doors, and uncanny ability to generate worst-case scenarios in my head (thanks for that, dad…!) I am generally embarrassingly happy.  It’s kind of unfashionable and was a positive handicap in my brief career as a Goth at university – but I would not have it any other way.  I go to bed at night and before I go to sleep I try to focus on three things for which I was grateful that day: a friend, a great meal, a lovely walk in the sun – small things thayt made the day worthwhile. And when I wake up in the morning and swing my strong, healthy legs out of bed without thinking about it for a second, I remind myself of all the people for whom getting simply swinging their legs out of bed is an almost insurmountable task. People who were denied the possibility of a good night’s rest by chronic pain. People who do not have a bed to sleep in. And then I ask myself “do I feel happy today?”. It kind of puts all your worries in perspective.

Life is short and we spend too much of it obsessing about the negative.  Nobody that has ever met me would describe me as a manically grinning Pollyanna type, but I loathe it when people do not appreciate what they have – and every person reading this blog has something to be grateful for today – even if it is just internet access which millions of people in the developing world do not have.  So why not grab any chance whatsoever to celebrate while you can?  Champagne with dinner?  Why not!  No point in saving it for high days and holidays. Singing on the Tube? Yes, people think you are nuts but damn it’s fun!  Dancing badly but with great enthusiasm?  Nothing feels better!  And when there is an unexpectedly sunny Sunday in March in London, when all your crocuses are flowering and the scent of your hyacinths is almost overpowering, laugh off the laundry, forget about the blog post you were meant to write and spend the day in the garden, being grateful for this sunny corner of London that belongs to you. Oh – and make something celebratory for lunch, like this confetti rice salad.  The word confetti comes from the Italian word confetto meaning small sweetmeats (e.g. sugared almonds) traditionally thrown at the couple at a wedding celebration.  Today, there is confetti available for every celebration, so I thought this salad with its colourful, confetti-like diced vegetables would be suitably celebratory.  It’s crunch, colourful, relatively good for you, and a great way to use up leftover cooked rice.  Enjoy with a glass of bubbly for no reason whatsoever – and remember to drink a celebratory toast!

 

ConfettiRiceCollage

 

CONFETTI RICE SALAD (serves 2 happy people)

Ingredients:

about 2 cups cooked basmati or long grain white rice
1 large red bell pepper, finely diced
2 spring onions, finely diced
2 large carrots, finely diced
about 7-10cm of a cucumber, finely diced
1 large stick of celery, finely diced
2-3 Tbsp mayonnaise (you can use less and thin it with milk)
mild curry powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Check for seasoning, season as necessary and serve. Ours was delicious served with some smoked peppered mackerel fillets.

Note:

You can use different colour vegetables or indeed, add different vegetables as you wish – peas and corn kernels would work well, as would other colours of bell peppers.

 

P2P_badge-SomersetDid you miss our our super-successful  Tuscany Plate to Page workshop last October? Well, registrations are open for Plate to Page Somerset to be held in the UK in Spring 2012!  Have a look at the programme (I’ll be teaching food writing), details about  accommodation, and if it looks like something you’d like to attend, register here – but hurry: places are limited to 12. It would be great to see you there!

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  1. Ailbhe says

    March 12, 2012 at 7:11 pm

    I do love rice salads and this one sounds crunchy and soft at the same time. Let’s celebrate leftovers, I LOVE making something tasty out of leftovers which could sound a little underwhelming but it makes me happy. Not only no waste but this looks so pretty too : )

    Reply
  2. andrew says

    March 12, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    I’m a half glass empty guy – but only cause that means there is only half a glass left until the next top up!
    I also like clouds – black, blue or rose…

    Reply
  3. Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) says

    March 12, 2012 at 10:15 pm

    Everything about this post makes me smile! Glass half full.

    Reply
  4. Móna Wise says

    March 13, 2012 at 7:32 am

    I am an optimist…but have very pessimistic moments too. I worry every day about tomorrow …. And wish I could stop that. I do take time to smell the roses though … Well, around here it is more like smelling the heather or the coconutty gorse. Hope you are well and ready for the crazy summer London will bring you this year!

    Reply
  5. Barbara says

    March 13, 2012 at 7:38 am

    Great post Jeanne. Ibelieve some people are only happy if they are unhappy. I once worked with a woman who loved sharing how unhappy she was.

    Reply
  6. Rosa says

    March 13, 2012 at 9:33 am

    A delicious salad that reminds me of my childhood!
    I try to be a positive person, but I am too much of a realist to always see the glass half full! ;-P
    Cheers,
    Rosa

    Reply
  7. Margot says

    March 13, 2012 at 9:46 am

    I would not mind a bowl of this salad for my lunch 🙂

    Reply
  8. Ishay says

    March 13, 2012 at 12:50 pm

    Hello Cookie. I think I’m part cynic, but mostly happy. It’s a choice,and hard work too. I think it’s the comparison to other’s circumstances and opportunities that shifts the perspective or skews it to half empty glass or sadly dry sometimes. Here’s to more celebrations for the sake of it and servings for happy people!

    Reply
  9. Colleen says

    March 13, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    Love love love this post. And what an awesome salad too. Always been a lover of curried rice salads! I always try to be happy no matter what. It certainly makes up for a lot of things and laughter is the best therapy I know. And the cheapest too. I have so much to be grateful for and am so blessed…and you are one of my great blessings! MWAH!

    Reply
  10. Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says

    March 14, 2012 at 6:56 am

    This is a topic that has fascinated me for the past few years and I have read a great deal about. It’s so interesting to see how others look at their own lives and how they judge happiness and success. It’s so easy to assume we all see it the same way.

    Reply
  11. Firefly says

    March 14, 2012 at 10:09 am

    I agree. We need to celebrate at every opportunity that we get.
    As for your confetti rice salad, perhaps it should be on the menu at my place tomorrow night.

    Reply
  12. Melanie Heavenly says

    March 14, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    I really enjoyed reading your post. It got me thinking and I think I’m mostly a glass half full kind of gal but every now and then [for no apparent reason] veer wildly towards glass totally empty – until I have a total rant and meltdown – usually at my partner and then a few days later I feel ok again. The meltdown phase is a bit of a slow burner generally lasting a week and then the ranty period about two days. Not ideal I know and my partner is long suffering bless him. I’ve recognised the pattern and am taking steps to try and see off the meltdown once the burn starts but it’s not easy. I grew up in an environment where the equilibrium had to be maintained at all times. Family simmered and resented but didn’t talk about things. Living with a volatile alcoholic for many years meant things had to remain on an even keel, so that he didn’t explode. I guess this led to me bottling everything up. In those earlier years I rebelled and did lots of things I shouldn’t as a way to let off steam.
    Now as an adult – well in years anyway – I’m a lot happier. I think I’ve grown to become satisfied with less and like you, try and take pleasure in the small things. I was a rather tortured person in my 20’s and 30’s thanks to self-esteem issues. I look back now and wish I’d been more glass half full. I like to think that as I get older the glass is getting fuller. As the skin wrinkles and the bits head south the tide mark rises. Ha, ha!

    Reply
  13. Abrina Hillson says

    March 14, 2012 at 5:07 pm

    I love your blog. Each of your post makes me happy that I started my company for foodie lovers. Maybe you will be able to attend one of my foodie tours. Please follow me and I will follow you. @Seasoned_Travel

    Reply
  14. bellini says

    March 15, 2012 at 1:49 am

    It is hard to remember that we should celebrate each and every day. They call me smiley at work so maybe my glass is full.

    Reply
  15. Meeta says

    March 16, 2012 at 6:45 pm

    Glass half full for me and always looking forward to something new. Funny thing – when putting Soeren to bed we ask each other what was bad and what was good making sure to end with the good and being thankful for it.
    Wonderful colors this salad has – makes me smile!

    Reply
  16. frances says

    March 19, 2012 at 6:22 pm

    thought you might like to read this blog – not specifically about food ….but on this occassion ….
    long live the “esposito” !!! read on …………………….
    http://petresposito.blogspot.co.uk/

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.