Brown Rice

We eat a lot of rice. We buy it in those huge bags, the size of dog food bags, and go through it fast.  We don't have potatoes often, bread is always around, pasta happens a couple of times a week, but rice is more common for us. Recently, we acquired a rice cooker, a stand-alone appliance that makes it even easier to eat rice.  As long as the ratio of water to rice is correct, you just turn it on and ignore it. It cooks and turns itself down and so far, has kept well without burning for some time after it's ready. (This contrasts with our old stove-top method which consisted of turning the flame on high until the pot boiled over leaving starch all over the stove top, then overcooking the rice and burning the pot.)

Of course, I'm not actually eating very many of any of these starch choices at all. But I've got a new theme right now to try to make sure I'm cooking the same things for my family that I want to eat. So tonight I decided to give brown rice a try.

There is no question brown rice is way better for health than white rice. It has more nutrients, more fiber, a lower glycemic index, yada yada yada. If I'm going to eat carbs at all, the whole grain is the way to go. But the main reason I hardly ever have used it is it takes so long to cook. Very nearly an hour, versus the 20 minutes for the white rice we use. Plus, it doesn't keep forever (they say six months, versus six years or more for white rice). It doesn't keep because the very nutrients that make it good for you also have the possibility of going rancid. Lastly, until recently, it was only "brown rice", and I've gotten used to focusing on basmati versus jasmine versus arborio, enjoying their different textures as part of other meals.  Now, it's easy to get named varieties of brown rice. I'll have to experiment to see if their textures correspond with their white counterparts.

So tonight's brown rice was ok. It still took an hour to cook in the rice cooker, so I'll have to be in the habit of starting it very first thing when starting a meal. I had brown basmati rice, when I wanted jasmine, but the texture was good and fluffy and went well with my stir fried chicken.  (Yesterday I listened to a podcast of "The Splendid Table" where Lynn Rosetto Casper explained varieties of rice this way: long grain = fluffy, individual grains like jasmine rice; medium grain = creamy like arborio in risotto dishes; and very short grain = sticky rice.)  It had a mild nutty taste, stronger than any white rice, but really subtle.  I had two half cup servings as I wanted to soak up more of the sauce from the chicken.  I sought feedback from the family on the switch and they seemed perfectly indifferent. With no objections, and me voting "yea", the motion to switch to brown rice (time permitting each time) carries.

I think I'll buy new stores, not too much, of brown rice. I read it can be kept in the freezer for longer than six months and we certainly have the space. I have seen five pound bags of jasmine, basmati and arborio brown rice at the food coop, so that will be my stop to make sure I've got fresh stocks.  A small move in the direction of healthier food for all.  I'll report back if I'm actually carving out the time, and not hearing objections.  Today the rice, but tomorrow NOT the pasta - I've never yet found a whole grain pasta that worked for me.