Vaguely Chicken Salad

Somebody gave me a bag of rice from Trader Joe's with a rice salad recipe on the back. I fooled around with it, and here is what I came up with. Measurements are. . .well, I don't measure salad. Just be prudent about it and put more rice in than anything else. Unless, of course, you don't like rice. Then you should just leave it out altogether--but there won't be much else to chew on.

• Rice, cooked and refrigerated, for ease of mixing (the Trader Joe's kind is called Basmati Rice Medley, but I'll betcha any kind would do).
• Chicken, cooked, cooled, and cubed
• Dried cranberries
• Walnuts
• Olive Oil
• Red wine vinegar (slightly more than however much olive oil)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Ground ginger (be generous with it)

So, that is how it goes. It is good with fresh apples, too, instead of the cranberries; I just happened to have cranberries on hand. Actually, the last time I made it, I cut up a Braeburn apple somebody had given me and that was very, very good, except that after I put most of the apple into the salad, it occured to me to taste it on its own, and then I felt awful. No, the apple didn't make me feel awful, but it was as though I had just obliterated a rare and wonderful wine in a marinade where any wine would have served. A Braeburn, come to find out, is more than good enough to be enjoyed without even the company of cheese.