Nutty and herby fennel and olive rice pilaf

The Story

My parents tend to be the “there needs to be a starch in every meal” type. So, when I’m home for the holidays, I go out of my way to make sure that not every meal is accompanied by plain rice, quinoa, or whatever other grain is on the docket for the day. There’s certainly nothing wrong with nicely seasoned, well-cooked grains. But sometimes, you want to jazz it up a little - enter this nutty and herby fennel and olive rice pilaf.

The nice thing about rice pilaf is you can use any kind of rice you want and the mix-ins are infinitely customizable. For this version, I was going for Mediterranean flavors with lots of herbs and even some nuts to up the protein content so it would be more satiating. As long as you have a good aromatic base, feel free to put whatever you’d like to complement what you’re serving it with.

If you’re stuck, it works great with my pan-roasted spiced chicken thighs or with gambas al ajillo with some vegetables like my zucchini with garlic crispies or roasted eggplant with tahini drizzle.

To cook the brown rice, I use the pasta method, as usual. If you’re more comfortable using the traditional straight absorption method, that’s okay as well.

Difficulty: 1.5 on a scale of 1-5

Active time to prepare: 35 (prepare the mix-ins while the rice is cooking)

Total time to prepare: 35 minutes

Serves: 6 - 8

The Ingredients

For the brown rice:

1.5 cups/300 g brown rice

2 Tbsp./27 g olive oil

5 cups/1.2 L water

For the rice pilaf:

3 Tbsp./40 g olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 bulb fennel finely chopped

3 garlic cloves minced

3/4 cup/75 g raw pistachios roughly chopped

1/2 cup/50 g raw walnuts roughly chopped

1 Tbsp./9 g smoked paprika

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup roughly chopped olives (like Castelvetrano or even oil-packed black olives - use what you like here)

1 bunch dill finely chopped

1/2 bunch parsley finely chopped

1 bunch chives finely sliced

Salt and pepper

The Recipe

For the brown rice:

1. Pour your rice into a colander and run cold water through the rice, swishing it around gently, until the water runs clear.

2. Heat the olive oil in a pot over high heat. Add the rice and the salt and sauté, stirring occasionally until the grains of rice are slightly browned (approximately 5-6 minutes).

   *NOTE: I use the same pot as the one I use to boil pasta…it should have a big enough bottom to have sufficient surface area to sauté the rice, and be tall enough to fit the rice and the water.

3. Add the water, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer.

4. Cook until the grains of rice are tender (25-30 minutes). Strain through a colander.

5. Put in a large bowl and set aside.

For the rice pilaf:

1. In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.

2. Add the onions and cook until they begin to soften (around 6 or 7 minutes).

3. Add the fennel and cook until the fennel is soft and the onion begins to brown around the edges (another 6 or 7 minutes).

4. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (2 - 3 minutes).

5. Add the pistachios and walnuts. Cook until the nuts are toasted (3 minutes).

6. Sprinkle in the paprika and cook to bloom (1 - 2 minutes).

7. Dump the mixture into the bowl with the rice. Add the lemon, olives, dill, parsley, and chives.

8. Mix to combine. Check for seasoning.

DO AHEAD: You can make the rice or the flavor base 1 or 2 days ahead. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

LEFTOVERS: Leftover rice pilaf can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 or 6 days.