White Rice Alternatives

[scrivener]

One of the toughest shifts in thinking I've had to make is the acceptance of white rice as not good for me. Like most of you who have grown up here, I love white rice; it is probably my single favorite food item in the whole world.

As it is with many less-than-healthy foods, there are ways to enjoy it without wrecking your body, but mostly that means eating less of it, and eating it less often. I've managed a few times to wipe it almost completely out of my life (with good results, I have to say), but what I really want is just a less-unhealthy alternative.

Prevailing advice seems to be to avoid rice if you can, and to have something whole-grain if you can't, such as brown rice.

I do enjoy brown rice, and lately I've enjoyed multi-grain mixtures (with wild rice, barley, and other stuff). What else is there? Anyone out there making quinoa a staple at home? I'd like to add a few new things to the pantry to satisfy my yearning for something starchy to accompany meat and veggies. What's working for you?

[mel]

Heh... I like Fried Rice but that doesn't count. Just changes the white to brown.

[tutusue]

Scriv...I like quinoa but not more than rice. And I don't like white rice...never have! I know...blasphemy! I love brown rice and forbidden rice. Mixed together is good too. I always add a packet of dry onion soup to the boiling water before I add the rice. My favorite starch (well, it's a starchy vegetable) is half a baked sweet potato or yam.

[scrivener]

What's forbidden rice?

[helen]

I prefer fried rice, then brown rice and then white rice.

The cafeteria at Honolulu Community College gives one a choice between brown and white rice while Yummys Korean BBQ charge you about 50 cents extra for changing from white to brown rice.

[tutusue]

What's forbidden rice?

Black rice...aka, forbidden rice.

[scrivener]

Ah yes. The multigrain I'm using lately is laden with that. Good stuff.

[Walkoff Balk]

Potatoe with an e.

[matapule]

I too, am a fan of rice, any way or any color I can get it! Much prefer it to any kind of potato.

What is too often to eat rice? I suppose I eat it once or twice a week at most, usually one cup max. If it is not good for me, why do Japanese people live so long?

As a substitute, I like bulgar wheat. It has a nice nutty flavor.

[Leo Lakio]

The Alpha Female has been making recipes with quinoa since the early 1990s; when I get a chance, I'll post a couple of her most popular quinoa salad ones here, as something for you folks to try.

[salmoned]

Alfabeto, orzo or risi.

[Walkoff Balk]

Tortillas.
Grits.
Lentils as a food staple for Neil on The Young Ones.

[tutusue]

Scriv...a thought...maybe buy 1/4 or 1/2 cup of various grains from the bulk bins at a health food store or Foodland. The cooking instructions are usually on the bins or you can google. You might find some hits...and some misses!

[Walkoff Balk]

The power of poi.

[scrivener]

Sue, I think that's a heck of an idea. Then I have more control over the proportion of stuff I really like vs. the stuff I only kind of like. I think I'll investigate this to see if it's more cost-effective too. Thanks!

[Mike_Lowery]

I'm sticking to white rice and cutting back on processed foods. Hey, if my ancestors lived into their 80s or longer for so many generations with 3 meals/day with rice, it can't be that bad!

[tutusue]

Sue, I think that's a heck of an idea. Then I have more control over the proportion of stuff I really like vs. the stuff I only kind of like. I think I'll investigate this to see if it's more cost-effective too. Thanks!

Bulk should be more cost effective. That's one of its main purposes.

Kokua has herbs and spices in bulk, too, which I love. I can buy as little as I want instead of the typical, costly bottle that ends up being tossed, 3/4 full, years later!

ETA: Lots of recent media attention given to the amount of arsenic in rice plus new recommendations on how much and how often to consume and how to cook so as to reduce the arsenic. Google is your friend!

[matapule]

Google is your friend!

HA! I'm addicted to Google and I am looking for an alternative. How can 100 gabillion Asians be wrong about rice? If I can't eat rice in moderation, you might as well put me in the box now!

[tutusue]

HA! I'm addicted to Google and I am looking for an alternative. How can 100 gabillion Asians be wrong about rice? If I can't eat rice in moderation, you might as well put me in the box now!

I think "in moderation" is fine. It's 3 times a day, 7 days a week that could possibly be a problem.

[scrivener]

Right. I still plan to have white rice on occasion; what I'm looking for is something better, not perhaps for three meals a day, seven days a week, but maybe once daily or thereabouts. Or maybe once every other? I don't know. Were there no negative consequences, I'd have white rice two to three times every day. That's pretty much what I did for most of my life.

[Walkoff Balk]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-ric...155511148.html

What can brown do for you?

[mel]

Cauliflower rice is what I have been eating lately.