Spring radishes dish up heat 'n' sweet

Q We need a spring salad for a party, but there's not much spring in our markets yet. Thoughts?

A Spring radishes are showing up and the citrus is still fine, so think these two for your salad (see recipe). Keep the dressing simple because you have two extremes here -- sweet orange and the bite of the radishes. I've added a third in the chile -- it does good things here.

The morel the better Q At this time of year I start getting excited about foraging for morel mushrooms. I've fried them in butter, but what else can I do with them?

A Morels are so distinctive, with a nutty quality, that I would cook them in a little gently flavored extra-virgin olive oil with minced shallot until they are crisped.

Take them out of the pan, add a little dry white wine to the pan, like a chenin blanc, or a riesling, boil that down to just a film in the pan, then add a little broth and boil that down by half.

Doing this builds in complex layers of flavors and is done in a minute or a little more.

The final touch is a few spoons of cream, but not too much. Put the mushrooms back in the pan to moisten them with the sauce and squeeze a little lemon over them. I think you will like this.

Brown rice takes time Q How much longer do you cook brown rice than white rice? I want to substitute brown in a recipe.

A Brown rice usually takes 45 to 50 minutes when cooked with the formula of 1 cup rice to 2 1/2 cups liquid. If you soak the rice overnight in cold water, it will cook in about 25 minutes. Even soaking for a half-hour can take a few minutes off the cooking time.

All this said, there is a hesitation. We now have so many types of rice available and each reacts a little differently in cooking. If you are cooking the rice into a dish, as in sautéed chicken with rice, allow 45 to 50 minutes to play it safe. Also, always check the package to see what approach is recommended.

Keep your cool Q Living on a budget has me taking lunch to work for the first time. My own food is a lot better than what I used to buy for lunch, so this works. My question is about safety. Is it OK to keep my cold chicken and hot soup (packed in a sealed plastic container) at room temperature for a couple of hours, or to leave it in my car?

A Don't chance it. Food poisoning is nasty, can be dangerous and could go through your saved cash in a day.

You need to constantly keep cold food cold and hot food hot. An inexpensive thermos, insulated thermal packs, ice-gel packets and an instant-reading thermometer will ensure safety.

Here's what "hot" and "cold" actually mean: Hot is 200 degrees and higher. Cold is 32 to 34. The danger zone where bacteria flourish is 40 to 140. The instant-reading thermometer will keep you on target. Tuck small ice-gel packets around the chicken, sandwiches or any other cold foods, then zip them into an insulated thermal pack. Have hot foods boiling when you pour them into the thermos.

Lynne Rossetto Kasper hosts "The Splendid Table," Minnesota Public Radio's weekly show, www.splendidtable.org. Send questions to table@mpr.org.