Salad and sausage, not a winner

It seemed like a good idea at the time.............

That's the way some of my cooking experiments turn out. Had a cookout and ended up with leftover grilled sausage, maybe about 3/4 pound. What to do with it? It was really good sausage - Italian with broccoli rabe, which I bought at the Country Butcher in Kennett Square, Pa. (By the way, that's a destination shopping spot, along with Talula's Table, also in Kennett.)

I went to my recipe binder - stuffed with clippings and handwritten recipes that I've collected over the years - and came across a "Basque salad" that sparked my interest. It's kind of a cold revision of paella, which seemed like a good dinner idea on a hot night. The salad is a combination of cooked rice, sausage and veggies with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette. I had leftover corn - cut from the cob - so I threw that in and also some leftover cooked lentils. Then I cut up red peppers and Vidalia onion and chopped some fresh herbs from the garden. I tossed it; thought it looked tasty and put it in the refrigerator.

But the salad, served cold, got a lukewarm response. Some thought the cold sausage tasted too greasy and marred the fresh taste of the veggies.

This salad is probably better served at room temperature. I think tasters also would have liked it better if I used either lentils or rice, not both, and subbed grilled shrimp instead of sausage.

Oh well, live and learn.