rice dish ideas for holiday party?

I make a wild rice dish that I found in the Duluth Grill Cookbook and everyone loves it. It is essentially wild rice mixed with orzo. Then you toss in a little bit of onion and a couple heads of broccoli and a large handful of dried cranberries. Add some basil and parsley, salt and pepper and a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. You could easily add pomegranate seeds to it, or substitute them for the cranberries.

This rice salad is beautiful and a crowd-pleaser. Also has dill and sweet red pepper as Christmas colors. Old standby from Silver Palate cookbook. http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/1345403-Silver-Palate-Cookbook-Rice-and-Vegetable-Salad-

The first thing that comes to mind is to check out some of Ottolenghi's recipes, which you can do online or if you have any of the cookbooks. To have it double as a main, you'd probably want to add some protein like lentils.