We include rice as a side dish to many of our dinners.  Most of the time it is plain white jasmine or basmati rice that I can cook in my rice cooker, but occasionally I use *Near East Toasted Almond Rice Pilaf* to switch things up a bit. This *Toasted Almond Rice* is a box containing a rice/orzo/wheat mixture and packets of toasted almond slivers and a spice mixture.  You add 1 and 3/4 cups of water plus butter or olive oil to a medium pot and then bring it to a boil.  Once it is boiling, you stir in the rice and packet contents, return to a boil, and then cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer everything for 20-25 minutes. It really is simple to cook *Near East Toasted Almond Rice Pilaf*! There is a reason that I own a rice cooker.  In all honesty, I am a complete failure when it comes to cooking rice in a pot on the stove.  After a couple of years of sticky and gluey rice, my husband suggested that my mother-in-law buy me a rice cooker when she asked what she should buy me for Christmas.  It really was a present for both my husband and myself.  Despite my ineptitude at stovetop rice cooking, I've successfully made this *Near East Toasted Almond Rice Pilaf* dozens of times.  It is easy to make and a delicious side dish for chicken, fish, or even a vegetable main course.  We really love it and I will be buying it for as long as I can find it in the local grocery store.  Highly recommended!

njchicaa

New Jersey, NJ