Basmati Rice With Dried Fruit And Nuts - flavorful and delicious vegan side dish for dinner or holidays. It's super easy to make and will turn any meal into a colorful feast.
Just when plain rice becomes boring, enter Rice With Dried Fruit And Nuts. Highly versatile and delicious side dish that goes with everything.
Although slightly sweet (thanks to all the dried fruits), this Rice with apricots and almonds goes really well with savory dishes.
Rice is a staple grain in so many world cuisines. In vegan diet, in particularly, rice is the important source of carbohydrates and nutrients that vegans depend upon.
In my family, we eat rice-based dishes on a regular basis. From Mushroom Pumpkin Risotto to Chinese Fried Rice, there's so many things you can do with rice.
This Rice With Fruit Recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit 2017 issue. I tweaked a few things which resulted in a fluffy and flavorful rice worthy to be served for any occasion.
🍚 Ingredients
This recipe is really easy to make with just a few ingredients that are staple in vegan pantry.
- rice - this Pilaf-like rice comes out best if it's made with long-grain rice like Basmati. Alternatively you can use Jasmine rice, which grains are a bit shorter but it will still yield cooked rice, where grains are fluffy and stay separate. I made this recipe with white Basmati however you can also use a brown variety
- dried fruit - you can use any dried fruit that you have on hands. In this recipe I loved using a combination of dried apricots and cranberries
- nuts - almonds work really well with rice and dried fruit
- flavor inducers - a few gratings of lime zest that went into the cooking water contributed to a refreshing flavor of the cooked rice
- herbs - I used Italian parsley, however fresh dill will work in this recipe too
- olive oil - you'll need to use oil for toasting the nuts as well as for cooking the rice
📖 Variations
- Dried fruit - use any dried fruit you have on hands. Raisins and dried cherries will be good substitutions or additions to dried apricots and cranberries
- Nuts - this recipe will also taste delicious with toasted walnuts or pecans
👆 Similar Recipes
Recipe
Rice With Dried Fruit And Nuts
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet and over medium heat. Add almonds, ¼ teaspoon of salt and toast the almonds, tossing occasionally until almonds smell nutty and start to brown, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from the heat, let cool and give almonds a rough chop.
- Meanwhile, rinse rice for 5-7 times until water runs clear.
- Heat the remaining 1 ½ tablespoon of olive oil in a small saucepan and over medium heat. Add rice and stir continuously for 2 minutes making sure each grain is coated in oil. Add lime zest, the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, water, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 18-20 minutes until rice is tender.
- Remove rice from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Transfer rice to a bowl, fluff with a fork and then stir in dried apricots, dried cranberries, almonds and parsley. Adjust the seasoning and serve.
Nutrition
Iryna Bychkiv is the founder and writer of the culinary website Lavender & Macarons, where she shares clean, European-inspired recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, and made with wholesome ingredients. Iryna loves creating meals that are simple yet healthy and unique, including vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Iryna is also a freelance writer for MSN and Associated Press Wire.
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