Easy Friday night dinner. Come home and put on some red rice to cook for a light and healthy salad. While it's cooking, get your daily fat and protein by snacking on a little gorgonzola with crusty bread, and drink a glass of wine. Once the rice is cooked, spend three minutes speeding around the kitchen to chop the sun-dried tomatoes, zest and juice a lemon, and grate a couple of zucchinis, then toss it all in a pan for five minutes. Eat and enjoy! Afterwards, look at the rhubarb you brought home with intentions of oven-poaching it and decide that it will keep till tomorrow. Retire to bed with a Peter Wimsey novel, then fall asleep before midnight.

And I'm not even 30 yet.

Bring a large pot of water or dilute stock to the boil and add the rice. Stir, then leave to simmer for 30-40 minutes until cooked. Drain.

In a large pan, heat a little olive oil, then add the sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, lemon zest and capers, and fry for 2 minutes, until heated through and the pine nuts are just starting to go golden. Add the zucchinis and cook another 2 minutes, then add the rice and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until heated through.

Stir the lemon juice and most of the parsley through the salad. Serve at once, sprinkled with a little more parsley.

Makes 2 generous main servings, or 4 side servings.

5 March 2004