Recipe: Slow Cooker Rice Pilaf (using white and brown rice)

SLOW COOKER RICE PILAF

1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 medium yellow squash, cubed
2/3 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) low-sodium chicken broth
2 pinches saffron (optional)*
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley (for garnish)

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat; add the onion, squash, white rice and brown rice. Cook, stirring, until onion is tender and rice is lightly browned, 4 minutes.

Place rice mixture in a slow cooker; stir in chicken broth and saffron.

Cover slow cooker; cook on low setting until water is absorbed, 4-5 hours.

Sprinkle with parsley.

*This recipe calls for two pinches of saffron, the world's most expensive spice. If you don't have it on hand, you can omit it. If you want to keep saffron in your spice cabinet, consider buying it at an Indian grocery where the turnover is good and the price is usually much less expensive than those found in gourmet stores or the supermarket spice aisle.

Makes 8 servings
Source: Jill Wendholt Silva, Knight Ridder Newspapers, February 14, 2007