Festive Rice Salad Recipes

Steps:

• Rinse the rice under cold running water until the water runs clear. Drain thoroughly.
• Place the rice, chicken broth and water in a heavy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring gently to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• When the water is boiling rapidly, stop stirring, cover the pan with the lid and turn the heat down to low. Let cook, without lifting the lid, for 20 minutes.
• Remove from the heat, lift the lid to release the steam, and replace it immediately. Let stand, covered, for 10 minutes and serve.
• Meanwhile, crush the garlic with the salt making a rough paste. Add the garlic paste to the vinaigrette and let stand for at least 15 minutes to combine flavors.
• Add the vinaigrette to the cooled rice and toss with the vegetables.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a small saucepan, bring first 5 ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat. Pour over rice in a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Bake, covered, until all liquid is absorbed, 30-35 minutes., Meanwhile, in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, cook pumpkin seeds, brown sugar and cayenne pepper, stirring constantly until sugar melts and cayenne coats pumpkin seeds, 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat; transfer to a plate, spreading out seeds to cool., Sprinkle cooked rice with feta, mint, cranberries and spiced pumpkin seeds.