Jewelled Rice is a nice meat accompaniment in eastern recipes but this is my own little variation on it I happened to whip up over the weekend. Hubby had this with sliced bourbon chicken he picked up from Costco.

Rose’s Jewelled Rice for 2

1/2 c short grain brown rice (you can use white or basmati too, just follow package directions for water and cooking times)
1 1/2 c veg or GF chicken broth (NOTE: I make my own vegetable stock- see below for recipe)
3/4 c diced sweet onion (vidalia or red)
3/4 c diced dried fruit (apricots, pineapple, papaya, sultanas- any mix of these works, I used apricots and pineapple)
chopped green onions to serve, GF soya sauce (optional)
sea salt and pepper (optional)

Bring the broth to the boil over medium flame in a small pot. Meanwhile, wash the rice and add to the pot with the diced onions. Cover and cook according to time on package, adding water if needed according to the type of rice you are cooking.  Make sure to cook long enough to absorb most of the liquid and stir occasionally to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot. When you are nearing the last 3-4 minutes of cooking, add the diced fruit and fluff up the rice (season to taste if you wish). Before serving, fluff again and divide between bowls. Top with green onions and a splash of soya sauce.

This particular version of the rice is mild in flavour- use a stronger stock or carmelise your onions first in a little butter before adding to the pot to bring out more flavour.

Rose’s Vegetable Stock

Vegetable peelings
Water to cover
Dried herbs- rosemary, coriander, seasoned salt, etc

I use fresh veg in cooking quite a lot so I save the peelings and add them to my crockpot on the weekend to make a basic stock for rice dishes. Any savoury veg works- the last batch I made I just put in green onion stalks, the tough bits of a small cabbage and a whole, peeled garlic clove. All I do is add a handful of herbs to this and just cover the veg with water. This is the easiest stock ever and it smells really nice- cook on high for a couple of hours in the crockpot and let it cool in glass jars. I usually forget I’m even cooking it until the smell permeates the whole apartment and it’s done. Can’t get any easier than that!