Festive Wild Rice

I know, it's not chocolate. :) But this is a great side dish for holiday meals so I wanted to share it! I found the recipe in a magazine several years ago and have made it for Thanksgiving dinner a few times. It also works great as a main dish rice salad just by adding leftover cooked turkey or chicken and a little olive oil!

Festive Wild Rice

4 cups broth {chicken or vegetable}
2 cups wild and brown rice*
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
1 large green apple, cored and diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Bring broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in rice, cover, and reduce heat to simmering. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone. Fluff rice with a fork and set aside.

Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute diced onion, diced carrot, and diced apple until onion is soft. Add in diced celery, dried thyme, minced garlic, and salt to taste. Continue sauteing for another 2 minutes or so.

Squeeze or pour lemon juice over the mixture in the pan and stir. Add in dried cranberries, chopped pecans, cooked rice, and balsamic vinegar. Heat through and serve. Can be served warm or cold.

This makes a good-sized batch, about 8+ servings.

*Instead of looking for expensive wild rice mixtures, I got smart this year. I purchased wild rice and brown rice separately in bulk and mixed them together. Only took me a few years to figure that out - LOL.

This post linked to:
 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls
 ~ Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam 

Do you have a favorite rice dish? Share a link in the comments!

Have a blessed day friends!