This is a wonderful side dish. I didn’t have any slivered almonds so I chopped some whole almonds and cooked it the same. The dried cranberries add nice flavor. I recommend watching the baking time because an hour would have been too long for me.

Very easy to make & tasty. We both loved this! I prefer to make a recipe as written but I had to improvise a bit based on my pantry - using cashews instead of almonds. Working with only a 1/2 cup of dried cranberries, I added 2 Tablespoons of sweetened coconut (after sautéing the nuts) to make sure I had a good sweet balance. The nuts and the coconut worked well! [I worried it would be bland and added another T of butter (to make it 4 not 3). The extra butter was unnecessary.] Oh! I forgot to spray the pan but it seems ok (esp w my extra butter).

I really liked it, but my hubby didn't. In all fairness though, he doesn't like "fruit with food" (craisens) and actually, really prefers white rice. So, I'm taking his feedback with a grain of salt. I followed the recipe as listed other then using chopped almonds because I did not have slivered ones. I also sprayed the baking dish with a butter-garlic spray grease, but don't think that added anything to the flavor. I really liked the long hands-free baking time.....it gave me plenty of time to make the rest of dinner and relax a bit. It is a beautiful looking rice dish and I'll make the side again. I'll only 1/2 it next time....that will be more manageable for my family of 5.