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Rice is such a great staple and can be used in and with so many recipes. You may have a rice cooker, but for those who do not, here are some tips for cooking up this delicious grain. Our favorite whole grain is Basmati brown rice with its aromatic flavor. When you enter the house while it is cooking, you get the same wonderful effect as the aroma of popping corn. Listed under Notes at the bottom of the page is a table of ratios for cooking several different kinds of rice.
NOTE: I no longer cook my rice with these ratios because of the arsenic problem. If that concerns you at all then cook your rice like pasta (1 cup rice to 10 cups water) and drain just as you would pasta. It cooks faster this way so be sure and test some kernels after 20 minutes to see if it is done so it doesn’t get mushy. I strain mine in a fine mesh strainer and just let it sit until it is cooled before freezing in one-cup quantities.
These concerns are especially relevant for young children. It is also recommended that the safest rice to get is from California or India.
TIP: We don’t use rice as much as we did but substitute other grains where we can. One option we use is half millet and half quinoa. Millet by itself is a little too sticky and blank, quinoa alone doesn’t have the sticking power of rice plus a stronger flavor, but together they work quite well in entrees and under “haystacks”. You’ll have to see what you think.
Notes: