The pilaf method of cooking rice is to me, the best way to make the fluffiest and tastiest rice dishes.  Very similar to the making risotto, you toast the rice in oil before adding the liquid, covering, and allowing all of the ingredients and heat do its thing.  This flavorful side dish from Food & Wine magazine is a tasty side dish with hints of Moroccan spices and flavorings.  Sweet shallots and carrots cooked in a touch of oil before cooking the white rice with a pinch of caraway seeds.  With their fennel-like taste, the caraway seeds add a unique taste to this pilaf; parsley and a mixture of pumpkin seeds and roasted almonds finish off this dish and add the color and crunch you were looking for.

(To view this recipe click on the following link: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/nutty-carrot-pilaf)

Tagged: caraway seeds, carrot pilaf, carrots, Food & Wine magazine, Italian parsley, pepitas, pumpkin seeds, rice pilaf, roasted almonds, shallot, side dish