Zaterans red beans and rice is low point and yummy. The bulk food stores also have some good rice choices. Expreiment and find some varriety that you like, don't be afraid of beans and lentles, they add fiber and taste to dishes. You can cook rice with bullon cubes to add flavor and no fat too. Hope this helps you out.
Tara - I use Uncle Ben's too, the regular kind, not the Minute Rice. I do mine on the stovetop no problem without butter or oil. What I do though to give it a little flavor instead of butter is add chicken boullion cubes to the water (or you could use a can of chicken broth instead of the water). Adds flavor with no points! I also sometimes add some garlic powder or chili powder.
I use low fat, low salt broth instead of water to cook my rice. I used to make my own, which is a very simple process, without any fat or salt, but I don't have the freezer space to store it in my small apartment fridcge.
You have to watch the buillon cubes. They have a lot of salt in them. And they're pretty expensive per serving compared with broth, especially if the broth is on sale. If you want different tastes in your rice, you can use beef or vegetable broths.
I prefer brown rices. They have more points for the same size serving, but I usually eat a smaller serving because they're so much more filling. They have more flavor than plain white rice. And they add some additional fiber to my diet.
I've found a variety of brown rices in gourmet style grocery stores and online. You can get brown jasmine rice. You can get brown short grain rice that makes a wonderful risotto. You can get brown basmati rice for curries. You can get brown rice blends from Lundberg Family Farms that are really good.
I use different kinds of rice for different things. I have long grain, short grain, Success cook in the bag, Uncle Ben's converted, Minute Rice and use both white and brown. Different recipes call for different kinds so I end up with all kinds in the pantry. I would use rice more often if the points were lower.
I'm with Kelly on the rice cooker - perfect rice every time, no worries. I like many many kinds of rice, but sometimes when I just want something simple, I have plain old white rice with salsa. It is delicious. Just the points for the rice, what a deal!
I like getting the Near East (or is it Far East?) boxes of rice and cous cous to prepare for a side dish. I think most of them are about 4 points for a 1 c serving. They have a ton of different flavors and so far all of them have been very tasty. Since I am single, I will seperate leftovers into servings and take them for my lunch.
Linens and Things has a few different brands that are all the same (from a small one to a very large one) plus a Black and Decker (it's oval with a couple different basket things that sit on top - MIL swears by this one). They all work basically the same way.
hi tara. i've posted about this stuff before but i can't seem to locate the message. anyway, Solutions is in the rice section, in a box that's a bit wider than, say, rice-a-roni. if i remember correctly, it's whole wheat that's been steamed (so the hull opens) and is then freeze dried. the result is a side dish that cooks up fast like instant rice or couscous but it has tons of fiber. it's really tasty--give it a try. let me know if you have trouble finding it and i will get the company name...
Uncle Ben's Converted Rice....
