I’ll just say this right up front. This recipe is kind of a commitment. You’ll dirty a few pans, but that all helps to result in the final, delicious rice dish. “Confetti” refers to the multitude of colors, textures and flavors in the dish. I don’t mind having a messy kitchen once in a while (since I enjoy cooking so much) if there is good food coming out in the end. Will you try it?

Ingredients needed:

raisins white rice brown rice wild rice chicken broth unsalted butter onion carrot pine nuts (can sub pecans or almonds) fresh parsley

How to make Confetti Rice:

The full, printable recipe is at the end of this post.

Place the raisins in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let the raisins soak until they are plump, then drain.

Rinse the white, brown and wild rices separately and drain.

Combine the wild rice and 1½ cups chicken broth in a saucepan and mix well. Cook, covered, for 35 to 40 minutes or until tender.

Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in each of 2 separate saucepans until melted. Add 3 tablespoons chopped onion to each saucepan. Sauté until tender.

Add the white rice and 1¼ cups chicken broth to 1 saucepan and mix well. Add the brown rice and 1½ cups chicken broth to the remaining saucepan and mix well. Bring both saucepans to a boil; reduce heat and simmer. Simmer the white rice, covered, for 20 minutes and the brown rice, covered, for 1 hour.

Sauté the carrot in 3 tablespoons of butter in a skillet.

Combine the cooked rices in a large bowl and mix well. Stir in the raisins, carrot, pine nuts and parsley. Spoon into a serving bowl.

Confetti rice makes a great side dish to Slashed Chicken with Bacon Herb Butter, Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary, Rosemary Pork Roast or your favorite main dish. Enjoy!

How to toast pine nuts (or any nuts):

To quickly toast the pine nuts, just put them in a small fry pan over medium heat.  Watch them closely, and use a wooden spoon to move them around until they are lightly toasted.  Be careful- they’ll burn if you don’t tend to them!  Pour them onto a paper towel to cool before adding them to your salad. I like to buy pine nuts at Costco. They’re less expensive there, and you can keep the big bag in the freezer and use them as needed.

The Best Rice Recipes:

Chile Cheese Rice Wild Rice with Snow Peas Garlic Butter Rice Lemon Rice with Capers and Parsley Cranberry Rice Pilaf