Creamy Rice Pudding with Cherries & Almonds
2 cups low-fat (1%) milk
1¼ cups water
½ cup long-grain white rice
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
½ cup dried sweet cherries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 Combine 1 cup of milk, the water, rice, and salt in medium saucepan; bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 30 minutes.
2 Stir remaining 1 cup milk, the sugar, and cherries into rice mixture; return to simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in vanilla. Let pudding stand until warm, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3 Divide pudding evenly among 6 dessert dishes and sprinkle evenly with almonds.
PER SERVING (½ cup pudding and scant 1 tablespoon almonds): 196 Cal, 3 g Total Fat, 1 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 4 mg Chol, 233 mg Sod, 38 g Carb, 22 g Sugar, 2 g Fib, 5 g Prot, 119 Calc.
FYI To accentuate the flavor of the almonds, stir ¼ teaspoon almond extract into the pudding along with the vanilla in step 2.