Okay all, I eat tons of brown rice on my current plan. It's a nice, bulky, wholesome filler, y'know. However, I'm not extremely creative at preparing it differently with various herbs & such. I'm happy eating my rice w/a little salt & pepper. My family is craving some variety~~I'd love to see your suggestions to make this staple more appealing to my family without losing its healthful benefits. No fatty sauces !

Thanks & looking forward to hearing your favorite varieties!

I don't really do brown rice (I don't know how to cook it properly, for one thing, although I keep meaning to figure it out), but one of my favorite rice preparations is to saute cooked rice in cooking spray with mushrooms, pine nuts, garlic and soy sauce. It's really simple and really yummy!

How about trying a new rice? I eat Forbidden Rice, which is a non-sticky black rice put out by Lotus Foods. It's still whole grain, but not boring like brown rice. It's the only rice I'll eat now. It has a deep flavor, almost slightly smoky. I even brought a pot of it to a family dinner and served it plain, without any salt or seasonings, and everyone loved it 'as is'. I also use it in anything that I would use brown rice in.

Do you eat meat? Do you have a pressure cooker?

Put the amount of brown rice you want in a pressure cooker
Put the beef (can be any variety of cut, flank steak is good) in the pressure cooker
Spice as you want (I like Mrs Dash)
Put a little less than the normal amount of water for the rice (so for 1 cup of rice, I think you want to put around 2 cups of water)

Cook it in the pressure cooker for half an hour or so and you will have a delicious dinner. I usually have my husband help me when I do this because I have a hard time telling when I should stop the pressure cooker. It is ok if you have to stop it, check it, then restart it. I've only made this a couple times so I'm not an expert, I just know that it is good even when I think I've messed up

Make it with fat free chicken broth instead of water. This ups the flavor yet adds almost no calories.

I also like to put cumin in it (maybe a tsp or 2 for four servings). Another idea is to stir in fresh herbs (try cilantro or basil) at the very end after you have finished cooking it.

I also like salsa stirred into my brown rice. I cook the rice as normal, then at the end of the cooking process, stir in a cup a salsa (for 4 servings of rice) and cook a little longer until the liquid is absorbed. I use fresh salsa (from the produce section, not a jar) that is only 5 calories per 2-tbsp serving, so it doesn't increase the calories by that much. Sometimes I make a whole meal out of it by stirring in pinto beans, cooked chicken, and either mango or avocado.

If you are willing to add a few calories, try substituting light coconut milk for a portion of the liquid. For four servings, you would add 1 cup light coconut milk in place of 1 cup of the water. Even better, use 1 cup light coconut milk and chicken broth in place of the rest of the water. My recipe also calls for 1/4 tsp salt.

sometimes I make it with some beans and canned tomatoes.

Yum...all your suggestions sound great. BluetoBlue I especially thought your sounded great, I can't wait to try them.

Thanks for all the feedback!

I'm brown rice lazy. I buy the flash frozen brown rice from Trader Joe's. 3 minutes in the micro. Dump into a bowl, add marinara sauce, stir, eat. Or I eat it plain.

Then again, I love brown rice.

Lots of good suggestions here that I do too (pasta sauce, salsa etc.)!

I chop fresh coriander and garlic, and cook it in a bit of veggie broth (you can use oil if you dare ) and then mix it in with the brown rice and sometimes make it with a little light coconut milk and more spice to make either Thai or Indian curry

A "breakfast rice" is good made with chopped dried fruit, chopped nuts or seeds, cinnamon, soy protein powder and light coconut milk or soy milk!

Use cooked, cold brown rice as the basis for a salad:
mix w/a can of drained beans (I usually do canellini), add in chopped veggies (red cabbage, red onion, celery, fresh parsley, etc)., top w/a walnut oil-based vinaigrette.

Some chunks of pineapple are also a nice addition.

My new favorite is quinoa instead of brown rice. It is a whole grain, similiar in texture to couscous but way yummier! It is also a complete protein. I cook it in chicken broth add ground cooked turkey or chicken breast cubes. I add sauteed zucchini, peppers, artichoke hearts and a dollop of non-fat sour cream. I had it again tonight. So satisfying(keeps me full for hours!!) and soooo good!!

You can also throw some pesto in, once it's cooked.

I like bulghar wheat too. I cook brown rice, quinoa, cracked wheat or bulghar wheat according to the package directions, but often use broths instead of water. Once they're cooked I use them in the same recipes I would use leftover cooked white rice in (like fried "rice" or added to soups...)

I found this recipe and it sounds good! you could play around with it and add tuna or chicken or sub brown rice for wild rice....

COTTAGE CHEESE AND WILD RICE CASSEROLE

Ingredients
1 Small onion, chopped
2 tblsp. Reduced calorie margarine
3 cups Cooked wild rice
1 12oz. Carton of lowfat cottage cheese
1 8oz. Carton of light sour cream
1/4 cup Fat free milk
Dash or two of Tabasco or other hot sauce
1 tsp. Seasoned salt
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Saute the onion in the margarine in a skillet and toos the cooked rice with this. In a mixing bowl, blend the cottage cheese with the sour cheam, milk hot sauce and salt. Stir this into the rice and turn into a lightly vegetable spray - coated 1 1/2 qt. casserrole. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and bake in 350 degree oven for about 25 minute.

Nutrient Information
251 Calories
8g Total Fat
25g Carbohydrates
17g Protein
661mg Sodium