Many of us are at different cooking and baking levels.  Some of us can dump anything together and make a meal while others are challenged to prepare something from a box.  There is nothing wrong with either kind of food prep but sometimes just understand an ingredient can spark some creativity.  I hope to help you spark some new ideas.

This week I want to talk about something basic… rice.  In my opinion rice itself can be one of the most boring foods on the planet but with a little nurturing it can be absolutely delish addition to your menu!

So before we get to deep into how to cook rice I want to explain the differences between the three most common types of rice.

1. White Rice:  Is rice with the hull and bran layers removed.  It takes approximately 15 minutes to cook white rice.  White rice is typically enriched with thiamine, niacin and iron to replace what was lost during processing.
2. Brown Rice:  Is rice with the hull removed during processing.  Brown rice takes approximately 45 minutes to cook.  It is a 100% whole grain.  Due to the oils in the bran layers brown rice can be stored for approximately 6 months on the shelf.  You can lengthen the storage time by vacuum sealing it or storing in the fridge or freezer.
3. Wild Rice:  Surprise wild rice is not even rice!  It is a grass of North America which is harvested and processed.  It does add great flavor when mixed with a white or brown rice however.

Okay so you have three types of rice to deal with now.  Granted there are others but sometimes you just need to start basic.

I also mentioned that vacuum sealing your rice prolongs it’s shelf life. The reason this works is it removes oxygen in the jar reducing the rate of spoilage.  What you need to do this is a FoodSaverwith an accessory port and a FoodSaver Jar Sealer.  The jar sealers come in both wide and regular mouth sizes for you to use with the appropriate size jar.  I currently use the wide mouth sealer and I feel that is the better choice to start with because of the ease of adding items to a jar.  However, in the future I would love to add a regular mouth sealer to my storage equipment.

I typically cook my rice in a food steamer.  I currently have a Sunbeam 6 Quart Food Steamer  but I would love to upgrade to a stacked steamer like the Deni 7550 Digital Food Steamer which has three levels so I could do rice, meat and veggies all at once.

So you now know how I store and cook my rice.  Let me give you a great easy recipe for you to add to your menu plan.  You could easily steam your rice ahead of time for this recipe.

Lemon Pilaf

Ingredients

2 teaspoons butter or margarine
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup sliced celery
1 cup cooked rice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash ground black pepper

Preparation

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and celery and cook until tender but not brown. Stir in rice, lemon peel, salt and pepper; heat thoroughly.

* Recipe compliments of the USA Rice Federation