Red Rice with Apricots and Toasted Pine Nuts

Our Nutty & Fragrant Red Rice has a delicate toasted-nut fragrance, further enhanced by dried fruits, fresh orange zest and pine nuts. I personally like to use the tart apricots from California. Sometimes, I add golden raisins or currants, for extra sweetness and color. Have fun choosing your favorite dried fruits and nuts! This recipe pairs especially well with chicken, duck, ham and venison.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon TAK Three Olives™ Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 1/3 cups TAK Nutty & Fragrant Red Rice (about ½ package), rinsed

TAK Pacific Ocean Sea Salt & freshly-ground pepper

½ cup dried apricots, cut in half

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon, plus more for garnish (or ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley)

Grated zest of 1 small orange (orange part only; avoid bitter white pith)

¼ cup pine nuts or chopped pecans, toasted

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5minutes, until translucent. Stir in rice, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 cups water;  heat to boiling.
2. Cover and simmer 40 minutes.  Add apricots, fluffing with fork; cover and let stand 5 minutes.
3.  Add tarragon, orange zest and salt & pepper, to taste, tossing with fork. Sprinkle with pine nuts and more tarragon.

Makes 6 servings (about 4 1/2 cups).

Are you looking for a hearty and healthful way to jazz up your next meal?
This recipe is exactly what you have been searching for.  It deviates from your regular ho-hum rice by featuring delicately sweet dried fruits, nutty red rice, fresh herbs, and crunchy pine nuts.  With so much flavor and texture packed into such a tiny package, you will feel like it is a sinful indulgence.  In reality, this recipe is so nutritious, every bite is like giving your body a big hug.

Red Rice with Apricots and Toasted Pine Nuts can easily fit into your next meal.  Whether you are lactose intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, or have a wheat or soy allergy, this dish is just right for you.  It can be savored no matter what the season.  It makes an amazing accompaniment to pork, chicken, shellfish, or game meats such as venison.

Don’t stop there, this mouthwatering concoction also doubles as a stuffing.  Try it nestled inside red, yellow, or orange bell peppers for a tantalizing vegetarian main dish.  Bump your proteins up a notch by placing the red rice inside a pork chop, chicken breast, or venison loin.  Simply make an incision into your meat of choice and place the prepared rice inside.   Secure the meat with butcher’s twine, sear in a hot skillet, and then slide it into a hot oven to finish.  What a quick and easy way to take meat from ordinary to exceptional.

If you can resist the temptation, this pilaf doesn’t have to be eaten right away.  Make it ahead of time and then pack for your next lunch on the go.   Impress your friends and family by bringing the red rice to your next gathering.  This makes a divine low-calorie midnight snack that you do not have to feel guilty about.

Healthy never tasted so good.  This delicately sweet indulgence is packed with fiber.   Not only that, but red rice contains healthful anthocyanins which are antioxidant-rich pigments.  Antioxidants are known to work such miracles as reducing the signs of aging and battling cancer-causing free radicals.  Dried apricots are a good source of Vitamin A, which has been thought to smooth the skin.  Rich and toothy pine nuts add protein and Vitamin E.  Top this recipe off with mineral-rich sea salt and you have just done your body a huge favor.

Red Rice with Apricots and Toasted Pine Nuts is a pilaf that is sure to please.  Whether you are on the go or staying in, this exquisite dish will pamper your palate and enrich your health.  It is a great way for people of many dietary shades to treat themselves without slaving in the kitchen or expanding their waistlines.  So the next time you are unsure of what to make for dinner, look no further.  Red Rice with Apricots and Toasted Pine Nuts is here to save the day.

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