Tip Tuesday #3- Perfect Brown Rice

Carbs, there’s a lot to know about them. Simple carbs vs. Complex carbs. To make a long story short, complex carbs are much better for you. They take longer to digest and don’t raise sugar levels in the blood as fast as simple carbs do. I mostly stay away from simple carbs. As my “grain“ in my meals I use oats, quinoa, bulgur, sweet potatoes, and brown rice.

My main issue though was the brown rice. For some reason no matter what recipe I used the rice stuck to the bottom of the pot and wasn’t very soft like white rice is. So my family turned their heads to brown rice. After a bunch of trials I figured out how to make brown rice absolutely perfect! Now my family loves brown rice and no one asks for white rice any longer. Success!

Here is the “simple“ way to make delicious “complex“ brown rice:

– 1/2 Tb olive oil
– 1 tsp minced garlic (optional)
– salt, to taste
– 1 cup brown rice, here I used round brown rice but it works great with long grain as well.
– 3 cups water- this is the key to perfect soft rice!!

Heat oil in a pot. Here you can add the garlic and let it saute for a bit. Once oil is hot add in the rice and salt. Stir till all the rice is coated with the oil. Let that cook on low heat no longer than 1 minute. Pour in the water. You will hear a sizzle. Turn the heat to medium high and wait till it comes to a rolling boil. Cover the pot and turn heat to low flame. Let it cook for about 30 minutes.

I know everyone says not to uncover a pot of rice, but, according to me, it’s fine to do that just for a second to see if there is any water left. You can check it at about 25 minutes. If you still see water keep it cooking covered. After its been 30 minutes turn off the fire (when you check the rice after 30 minutes be sure almost all of the water is gone, if it isn’t you can keep it cooking on low flame another 5 minutes). Let the pot sit covered for another 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes are up, uncover the pot to see your perfectly cooked soft brown rice and check out the bottom of the pot- nothing will be stuck to it!

You can do this for any amount of dry brown rice. Just add one more cup of water than you usually would.
2 cups dry rice-5 cups water
2.5 cups dry rice-6 cups water
3 cups dry rice- 7 cups water

You get it…

After the rice is cooked you can add more salt if needed and then use as you normally would. I have a great side dish recipe that goes really well with the rice. So stay tuned!