Rice with Pecans and Cranberries

I know, I know, I just recently posted a rice recipe good for just about any occasion, but now I have another. Believe me, you'll thank me, it's that good. This one is adapted from the Whole Foods Cookbook and has a bit more crunch than the other, I'd say, mainly due to the raw vegetables. It's just as delicious and versatile (think lunch, dinner, potluck, debauched face-smothering).

And did I mention easy? Because easy is the best part. My grade: A

Rice with Pecans and Dried Cranberries

Ingredients:

Dressing:

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons raspberry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 - 2 tsp sugar

Salad:

1 cup rice (I use calrose because I'm a Hawaii girl and addicted to calrose, but wild would probably be even better and you could also use brown)
water, enough to cook rice (see instructions according to rice used)
1 cup pecan halves, toasted
1/2 red onion, diced
1 yellow or orange pepper, seeded and diced
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup minced parsley
8 green onions, chopped

Directions:

For dressing, combine vinegars, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper and mix well. A blender is good for this.

For salad, cook rice according to specifications and reserve. Let cool.

Once rice is cool, add pecan halves, pepper, cranberries, parsley and green onions. Other nice bits for this salad might be celery and carrot. Combine the dressing with salad ingredients, starting with a quarter of the dressing and increasing until you are comfortable with the taste. For example, I do not use all the dressing called for this recipe -- probably about 3/4ths, actually.

Chill before serving.


Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook: 45 minutes for rice, 20 minutes for chopping/dressing -- 1 hr 5 min, all in

Rice with Pecans and Dried Cranberries

I know, I know, I just recently posted a rice recipe good for just about any occasion, but now I have another. Believe me, you'll thank me, it's that good. This one is adapted from the Whole Foods Cookbook and has a bit more crunch than the other, I'd say, mainly due to the raw vegetables. It's just as delicious and versatile (think lunch, dinner, potluck, debauched face-smothering).

And did I mention easy? Because easy is the best part. My grade: A

Rice with Pecans and Dried Cranberries

Ingredients:

Dressing:

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons raspberry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 - 2 tsp sugar

Salad:

1 cup rice (I use calrose because I'm a Hawaii girl and addicted to calrose, but wild would probably be even better and you could also use brown)
water, enough to cook rice (see instructions according to rice used)
1 cup pecan halves, toasted
1/2 red onion, diced
1 yellow or orange pepper, seeded and diced
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup minced parsley
8 green onions, chopped

Directions:

For dressing, combine vinegars, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper and mix well. A blender is good for this.

For salad, cook rice according to specifications and reserve. Let cool.

Once rice is cool, add pecan halves, pepper, cranberries, parsley and green onions. Other nice bits for this salad might be celery and carrot. Combine the dressing with salad ingredients, starting with a quarter of the dressing and increasing until you are comfortable with the taste. For example, I do not use all the dressing called for this recipe -- probably about 3/4ths, actually.

Chill before serving.


Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook: 45 minutes for rice, 20 minutes for chopping/dressing -- 1 hr 5 min, all in

Wild Rice Salad

I came across this mouth-watering recipe on Simply Recipes, a site I really enjoy and also highly recommend. I knew I had to try it; the sesame oil, wild rice and cranberries seemed bound to be delightful. And they were; all of it was. I made a pig of myself with this dish, seriously. I did modify the it a bit to suit my particular tastes, which the recipe here will reflect. Feel free to do the same. Get creative. My grade: A+

Wild Rice Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 1 cup wild rice
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 8 green onions, sliced
• 2 cups thawed frozen peas
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• Salt and pepper

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 Tbsp dark sesame oil

Directions

1 Put the vegetable broth in a medium sized saucepan. Add the rice and wild rice, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover. Let cook for 40 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool completely. (I used calrose rice for this, and made both rices in a rice pot. Worked out nicely.)

2 Heat a small skillet on medium high heat. Add the almonds. (If you like, lightly coat the bottom of the skillet with oil.) Cook, stirring frequently, until lightly toasted. Remove almonds from pan and let cool.

3 Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil.

4 In a large bowl gently mix together the cooled cooked rice, green onions, peas, dried cranberries, almonds, and dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

Chill completely before serving. Serves 8-10.

Difficulty: Easy