A few posts ago, I made the Tomato Rice (check it out here) and today’s recipe is another delicious rice dish. This is Pistachio Herb Rice and it has just that – pistachios and herbs – as well as some dried fruits.

This rice starts off like plain rice, just cooking it in some broth, but then it gets some Middle Eastern/Persian flare. You let a pinch of saffron sit in a bit of water to infuse and then that gets poured over part of the cooked rice to give it a nice yellow colour. That step is mostly for appearance because it doesn’t add any flavour but it is worth it. The good stuff – pistachios, dried fruit (apricots and cranberries), and herbs (cilantro and mint) – comes in at the end.

The combination of the nuts and herbs with the fruit is so tasty. With each bite of rice, you get a couple pieces of different things and it’s so balanced. The herbs are fresh and the fruits give a nice pop of sweetness. The only other seasoning in this rice is some lemon juice and black pepper. It’s very simple but you don’t really need to add anything else.

You would typically serve this rice with something saucy, the cookbook suggests their pulled jackfruit, but it’s definitely good on its own too. It’s very light as a side dish and you could even just mix in some chickpeas or lentils to make it more of a meal.