Rice to Meet You

On Monday in class we divided into groups and each made a different rice or grain dish. The one my group made was a bacon and egg bake, (link). It was very colorful and full of flavor, it disappeared fast! It didn't take us long to make because we had our ingredients prepped beforehand which was really nice. It tasted similar to a fried rice, however, we substituted a quinoa and light brown rice mixture for white rice. Be careful doing this because you will most likely end up with more rice than you need for the recipe. Bacon, eggs, and rice pair really really well. This would actually make a pretty good breakfast food, full of protein.

The easiest way to cook rice is to have one part rice, two parts water/liquid. Meaning if you have a cup of rice, you'll need two cups of water. It's best to add about a teaspoon of salt for flavor and to help the cooking process. You let the water and the rice come to boil, and then, once it's boiling reduce the heat to a simmer. Follow the cooking instructions for the type of rice you're making. For example, brown rice typically takes between 50 and 60 minutes to cook.

For some other grains, or seeds for quinoa, you'll want to have the same ratio as rice. You bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Then, cover it and let the quinoa simmer until it's tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, this takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Fun fact: 1 cup of quinoa contains about 8g of protein and has 2x the dietary fiber as white rice.