Learn To Make Baked Rice with Olives, Feta & Pomegranate
When I realized that I could eat pomegranate seeds during the Elimination phase I went a little overboard and this Baked Rice with Olives, Feta & Pomegranate was one result.
I began throwing them into leafy salads (check out our Kale and Butternut Squash Salad), fruit salads and then got bold and experimented with hot dishes, like our Moroccan Lamb.
This Baked Rice dish is not only colorful and incredibly flavorful, it is super easy too. Note the “baked” in the title. If you have never baked rice before, you are about to learn a tried and true technique.
The Relish Has Multiple Uses
In addition to baked rice, you will be making a fresh relish with the pomegranates, olives and walnuts. The second time around we made double so that we would have extra for other uses throughout the week. It was fabulous alongside roasted chicken or fish.
Yotam Ottolenghi Rules
If you aren’t familiar with Yotam Ottolenghi, take a moment to Google him. He is a well-known chef and cookbook author whose food is always bold in flavor, texture and visuals and his take on a dish is always worth paying attention to as far as I’m concerned.
I came across this dish while searching for unusual ways to use pomegranate and the look of it is what first caught my eye. Red, white and green – healthy, jam-packed with texture and flavor; this was going to be a great vegetarian side dish to a holiday meal. This recipe makes a lot! Perfect for entertaining.
FODMAPing
The original recipe called for garlic as well as pomegranate molasses, which has not been tested for FODMAPs. Pomegranate molasses is basically cooked down pomegranate juice until it is the thickness of molasses. It is tart and sweet and a fabulous ingredient, but for now, I was going to leave it out.
My rendition gets its garlic kick from the FODY Foods Garlic-Infused Olive Oil.
Other than that, it is a FODMAP IT!™ tribute to Ottolenghi. I think you will enjoy it as much as we did.
FODMAP IT!™ Baked Rice with Olives, Feta & Pomegranate
Red, white and green - healthy, jam-packed with texture and flavor; a great vegetarian side dish to a holiday meal. This recipe makes a lot! Perfect for entertaining.
Ingredients:
Rice:
- 3 1/2 cups (840 ml) water
- 2 cups (370 g) basmati rice
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Pomegranate Olive Relish & Feta:
- 3/4 cup (100 g) Castelvetrano olives, pitted, and coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cup (130 g) pomegranate seeds (arils)
- 1/2 cup (57 g) toasted chopped walnuts
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) garlic-infused olive oil, such as FODY Foods Garlic-Infused Olive Oil, plus extra
- 1/4 cup (10 g) coarsely chopped fresh mint
- 1/4 cup (8 g) coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 8 ounces (225 g) sheep's milk feta, sliced into ¼-inch (6 mm) slabs
Preparation:
For the Rice:
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Place a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 450°F/230°C.
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Stir water, rice and salt together in a 13-inch x 9-inch (33 cm x 23 cm) casserole dish and dot with butter. Seal tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
For the Relish:
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While rice is cooking, make the relish. Simply stir together the olives, pomegranate seeds, walnuts, ⅓ cup (75 ml) garlic-infused olive oil, mint and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper, being mindful that you will be adding some salty feta to the dish. Set aside.
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Check rice, which should be tender and water should be absorbed at about the 30-minute mark. Re-cover and cook for 5 to 10 more minutes if necessary. Remove from oven and fluff rice with fork.
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Arrange the oven rack about 4-inches (10 cm) from heat and set broiler to High. Arrange feta over rice, using the image for inspiration. Drizzle with a little extra garlic-infused olive oil. Broil until feta is just starting to brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. Spoon pomegranate olive relish over the top and serve immediately.
Notes:
If You Can Tolerate
Fructans: If you have passed the garlic fructan Challenge, you can add 1 minced garlic clove to the relish.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more. For a more detailed explanation, please read our article Understanding The Nutrition Panel Within Our Recipes.
