Rice pilaf with blood oranges & almonds

I am a huge fan of adding various seasonal ingredients to spice up otherwise kind bland of foods like rice or couscous or quinoa.  I love various fruit/nut/cheese/herb combinations.  Right now blood oranges are just amazing and I love to use them when they are in season – they are so tasty and beautiful!  In this recipe, I added them to a basic rice pilaf with some crunchy toasted almonds for texture….you can serve this as a side dish with just about anything!

Serves 4

2 T. butter

2 T. olive oil

½ onion – chopped

1 c. long grain rice

2 c. chicken broth

½ c. toasted sliced almonds

1 blood orange – segmented and roughly chopped.

Heat butter and oil in medium saucepan.  Add onion and rice and sauté, stirring often, until rice and onion is translucent and rice is toasted golden brown.

Add chicken broth and bring to boil.  Cover, turn heat to low and simmer 15 minutes.  Turn off heat and let sit covered for 5 more minutes.

Fluff rice pilaf with fork and stir in toasted almonds and blood oranges.  Season with kosher salt, if desired.