Olive & Date Rice Side Dish #SundaySupper

This olive & date rice is an easy and delicious side dish. Tangy green olives, sweet dates and toasted pine nuts makes for the perfect combination.

My good friend Lisa is a kindred foodie spirit. We often go on field trips around Pittsburgh checking out new restaurants and markets. Recently she told me about a friend at work that eats dates with green olives and that it was delicious. I think she ended up making a panini with some type of cheese, maybe gouda? Anyway I was intrigued because I’ve come to love olives and dates as I got older. And from that conversation a star was born….olive & date rice. Thank you Lisa for that great idea! And it is the perfect dish to share on today’s Sunday Supper – Simple Rice Recipes.

I think the reason this works so well is because the green olives are tangy and the dates are sweet. These Castelventrano olives are my new favorite kind because of the color and taste. Sometimes Costco carries them but you can get them online. So the sweet dates and tangy olives make a delicious combination with starchy rice and crunchy pine nuts. Actually anything tastes good to me with pine nuts but I digress. This was a really tasty side dish and my hubby gave it two thumbs up.

This was of course an easy recipe. I made my rice the same way I always do but today I added chopped up olives and dates to cook with the rice. While that was cooking, I toasted the pine nuts. (As you can see I burnt them a bit. I seem to burn pine nuts a lot because I forget to watch them in the skillet. And as they can be expensive, I end up using them anyway.)

Olive & Date Rice

When it was done, I added a quick tablespoon of butter to give it a bit of richness. It was yummy! This would be a great side dish with lamb or beef kebabs or maybe some Paleo Middle Eastern Meatballs? While I hope you like this easy and tasty side dish. I can now vouch for the delicious taste combination of green olives and dates. Next we try Lisa’s panini. Lisa, time for a guest post! Please scroll down for more Simple Rice Dishes from my friends at Sunday Supper.

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Date & Olive Rice Dish

This olive & date rice is an easy and delicious side dish. Tangy green olives, sweet dates and toasted pine nuts make for the perfect combination.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Author Denise Wright (MyLifeCookbook.com)

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup rice
• ½ cup dates chopped
• ½ cup green olives chopped
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• 1 Tablespoon butter

Instructions

1. In a pot, add your olive oil and rice and saute for 1 minutes.
2. Add in your olives, dates and salt and mix well.
3. Add the water and bring to boil.
4. Once boiling, cover and lower heat to medium low.
5. Cook for 20 minutes.
6. Take out of pot and spoon into a large bowl.
7. Add butter and mix until melted.
8. Serve and enjoy!

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More dishes with olives!

Simple Rice Recipes for Dinner #SundaySupper

What’s for dinner?

• Butternut and Brown Rice Soup by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Crispy Rice Bites by Hardly A Goddess
• Easy Pork Fried Rice – Gluten Free by Cricket’s Confections
• Granny’s Sausage & Rice Casserole by Gourmet Everyday
• Italian Rice Pilaf with Toasted Almonds by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Nasi Lemak – Malay Coconut Milk Rice by Sprinkles and Sprouts

Rice is for dinner!

• Olive & Date Rice Side Dish by My Life Cookbook
• Qatiqli Hu’rda (Uzbek Rice Soup with Yogurt) by Tara’s Multicultural Table
• Savory Rice Porridge by Pies and Plots
• Slow Boat to China by Bottom Left of the Mitten
• Slow Cooker Jamaican Rice and Peas Soup by Palatable Pastime
• Slow-Cooker Chicken Cacciatore over Rice by My Blissful Mess
• Sushi Roll Rice Bowl by The Freshman Cook
• Tex Mex Chicken Skillet by Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
• Easy Paella Recipe with Beef and Shrimp by Sunday Supper Movement

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