Apple Walnut Rice

My mother-in-law brought us a big bag of walnuts today. I was trying to decide what to make for dinner, and in my mind I kept pairing the nuts with apple...and brown rice? My husband loves rice (I'm a pasta girl at heart) and I've learned to enjoy rice a lot more in the past few years.

I jumped on allrecipes.com as I so often do for inspiration. I found such a recipe, although made with instant white rice, and I totally made my own version. I paired it with turkey kielbasa, which in my opinion was kind of a nice contrast with the salty and sweet. While he LOVED the rice, Sage didn't care for the two together so much. We both decided it would go perfect with pork tenderloin. Next time I'd like to add chopped celery but I didn't have any. And I may make less, since it isn't great leftover.

1 ½ cup plus ¼ cup water, divided
1 cup apple juice
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of celery seed
1 cup long grain brown rice
½ cup chopped onion
Cooking spray
1 small apple, peeled and chopped
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

1. In large saucepan, bring 1 ½ cup water and apple juice to a boil. Add rice, cinnamon, salt, and celery seed. Stir, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 45 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, sauté onion in small skillet coated with cooking spray.
3. When rice has cooked for 45 minutes, add ¼ cup water, sautéed onion, apples and walnuts. Cook 5-10 minutes or until rice is done and apples lose their crispness.