Almond Rice Pilaf

 

Who else is ready for Thanksgiving? I started the cooking frenzy yesterday. This year I made a long list of what needed to be done, and divided the tasks up into 3 days. Since I do all the cooking on my own, I find it necessary to make a list so that I won't forget anything. One year everything was ready and we were sitting down to the table when I realized I had forgot to make Mashed potatoes. Good thing they only take 30 minutes, because my family was not going to have a Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes. 

I find the week before thanksgiving is the hardest week to make dinner for my family. I am planning and cooking for the big Thanksgiving celebration and when it comes to dinner time I am totally stumped and uninspired, only because my mind is on Thanksgiving, not today. So this week I just focused on trying to make my side dishes a little healthier. Because I am not a big meat eater, I tend to eat the side dishes and not the main dishes. I decided to add some slivered almonds to my rice pilaf to add some protein. Everyone really enjoyed it. I hope you do to!

Almond Rice Pilaf
adapted from All Recipes

1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup chopped sweet onion

1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 1/2 cups uncooked jasmine rice
3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
ground black pepper to taste
2 green onions, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in hot oil until tender and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Stir jasmine rice and almonds into onion until rice is coated with oil and rice is lightly toasted, about 5 minutes more.

Pour chicken broth into skillet and season with kosher salt and black pepper.

Bring rice mixture to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 22 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat; garnish with parsley and green onions.