Brown rice salads are on many prepared-food counters, but the grains are typically soaked in dressing and lose their characteristic nuttiness. To keep it, toast the rice in olive oil for a few minutes before simmering it in water. The grains never brown — in fact, they turn white as they toast — but when the rice is done, each grain is lightly coated with oil and tastes chewy and delicious in the salad.

Raw rice nearly triples in the pot, so one cup will yield about three cooked. Mix at least three cups of crisp vegetables into that amount of grain (you can even add more vegetables than rice). Here, grated carrots, celery, red onion, radishes, and a mix of golden and dark raisins are stirred in. Cook the rice, let it rest, and spread it out in a baking dish. Stir some of the dressing into the rice and the remaining into the bowl of vegetables. Let them both sit to absorb the liquid, combine them, add parsley and green beans, then fold in a handful of roasted almonds for a double dose of nutty flavors.

Sheryl Julian can be reached at sheryl.julian@ globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @sheryljulian.