Rice Pilaf with Walnuts

Yesterday, Pam from Sidewalk Shoes left a comment asking for the recipe for the Rice Pilaf that I served as a side dish with my Crunchy Lime Tilapia. I wasn't planning on posting it (hence the strangely microscopic zoomed in picture of 7 grains of rice). But what the heck, I've always said that I take requests...

Rice pilaf is something that I make often, yet I rarely follow the same recipe twice. Even this recipe is already lost. In fact I literally tore my house apart looking for it after I got the request for the recipe. I printed it off the internet, but I can't remember where I got it from. I did make some changes to the original recipe, so at least it isn't a blatant rip off from somebody else's site (I'm really sorry if it is yours).

Here's my change.... I hate peas (gasp... don't tell my kids, PLEASE) so I left them out!

Rice Pilaf with Walnuts

1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 stalk celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 cup green peas (yuck! It was hard for me to even TYPE that)
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper
1/8 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. Saute onion, celery, carrots, green pepper in olive oil for 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent.

2. Add rice, chicken stock, and tomato (and peas, if you must). Bring to a boil and let simmer, covered for about 20 minutes (or until rice is tender and liquid is all absorbed).

3. Fluff with a fork and stir in toasted walnuts and parsley. Season with salt and pepper (I used homemade chicken stock, but if you use powdered go easy on the salt).