Long Grain & Wild Rice with Cranberries & Pecans

Have you tried any items off of Applebee's new Pub Diet?  Seriously, you should at least try the Cedar Grilled Lemon Chicken, Granny Smith Apple Relish, Lemon Olive Oil Vinaigrette, Quinoa Cranberry Pecan Rice Blend.  Yes that was a mouthful--a mouthful of deliciousness! That rice was to die for.  I could not even concentrate on the dinner conversation.  I am attempting to replicate that recipe right here.  My recipe is good, but it is not the real deal.  Plus, I didn't use quinoa.  Not sure what kind Applebee's had in their rice. I will try this recipe again, after I have done some more field studies, i.e., gone back to Applebee's for more. Also, while putting this recipe together I found a quick way to toast pecans.  Yummy.  Future post. Stay-tuned.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Long Grain & Wild Rice Blend (I thought the wild rice was a nice addition)

Dried cranberries

Pecans, toasted (you can leave them halved or chop coarsely)

Olive oil

Cranberry Juice Cocktail (little tip from the waiter)

1.  Cook the rice according to package directions and taste preferences.  I used my rice cooker for this because at the end of steaming, I added about 1/4 cup of cranberry juice cocktail and let it steam a bit more.  The waiter told me about that little step when I was raving about the rice.

2.  Add in desired amount of dried cranberries, and the toasted pecans.  Fluff the rice and evenly distribute the other ingredients.