CRANBERRY WALNUT & SWEET POTATO WILD RICE PILAF – This gorgeous wild rice pilaf is completely deserving of a place on your Thanksgiving table!
With sweet-tart dried cranberries, crunchy toasted walnuts, the unmistakable hint of bacon and tiny-diced sweet potatoes it promises to wow you over the same way it did me.
The rice is a wild/brown rice blend cooked in low-sodium chicken broth for a boost of flavor with bay leaf, parsley and thyme. It’s soft and chewy with a little nuttiness.
The sweet potatoes are cut into a small dice and sauteed with bacon, red onion and garlic until tender and infused with flavor.
The entire shebang including the cranberries and walnuts are mixed together for one of the most delicious side dishes you will ever taste.
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One bite and I fell hopelessly in love, devouring it by the bowl full for every meal until not a speck of it was left.
If you know me you know Thanksgiving is all about my Mom’s stuffing – the one I dream of all year long. Well, move over stuffing, there’s a new side dish in town.
This just might steal the show away from the beloved stuffing. {I can’t believe I just said that.}
It’s going to be a close call. Very close.
Wild rice pilaf, I heart you.
CRANBERRY WALNUT & SWEET POTATO WILD RICE PILAF
Ingredients
- 1 can 14 ounces low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup wild rice/brown rice blend
- ⅓ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup sweet potato peeled and diced small
- ⅓ cup chopped red onion
- 2 slices bacon chopped small
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- packed ⅓ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan bring the broth to a boil over high heat.
- Add the bay leaf, parsley, thyme and rice.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover with a tight-fitting* lid (don't lift it as it cooks).
- Cook 45 minutes. Remove from heat without lifting the lid and let it sit.
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add the walnuts, cook 5 minutes stirring often. Remove and set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the frying pan over medium heat and add the sweet potatoes, onions, bacon and garlic plus a couple dashes each of salt and pepper.
- Stir often and turn the heat down slightly if needed. Cook about 10 minutes until the sweet potato is fork tender.
- Stir in the cranberries and cook 1 - 2 minutes. Stir in the walnuts.
- Fluff up the rice with a fork and remove/discard the bay leaf. Add it to the sweet potato mixture along with the walnuts and combine everything together with a fork to keep it light and fluffy.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- *A see-through lid works well here so you can make sure it's simmering slowly without lifting the lid.