In this article we will learn on how to spice up brown rice to make it healthy and taste good. Rice is a dish served all around the world. It is eaten in many different countries and cooked differently across many different cultures. I grew up eating rice and absolutely love it. Unfortunately, I learned, along with the rest of the world, that rice isn’t the healthiest food to eat.
It is actually a bit of a controversy. You either believe rice is good for you or bad. It really hasn’t been proven either way, but regardless, people know that whole grains are better than processed. That is why people started eating brown rice instead of white. They jumped on the health wagon and decided not to eat white rice anymore.
What do people do, who don’t like brown rice that much, when they are trying to be healthy and want to avoid white rice? Well, they can make their brown rice taste better and learn how to spice up brown rice to make it taste good! All you have to do is add different spices and ingredients. First, let’s learn how to make brown rice in the first place.
Brown Rice is Delicious, but How Do You Cook It?
If you’re interested in switching from white rice to brown rice, you will need to learn to cook it. You might be tempted to think that you can just cook brown rice the same way that you cook white rice. Nope! You can’t. I mean, I don’t know if there’s someone out there who uses the same technique for both; but it didn’t work out for me when I tried it. The first time I tried to cook brown rice, I used the same method I did for white rice; and it turned out undercooked. This is how I eventually learned to cook brown rice and it works every time!
The first thing you do is add 2 cups of water into a pot to every 1 cup of rice. Salt the water until it tastes slightly salty and then add about a tablespoon of oil; you can use olive oil, vegetable oil, or whatever you prefer to use. Bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, cover and reduce the heat. Let it simmer for about 45 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the water and is tender. Then you turn off the heat and let it sit covered for 10 minutes. Then it is done! You’ll have delicious brown rice to fluff up with your fork and then spice it up!
Spice Up Your Rice into Garlic Brown Rice
If you want to know how to spice up brown rice, you need to learn about this amazing ingredient that makes everything taste better. Garlic! Garlic literally brings flavor to any dish you add it to. You can spice up your brown rice by adding garlic to it! Garlic brown rice is easy to make and very flavorful! All you need to do is chop up a few cloves of garlic and add it to the pot you plan to cook the rice in. Then, add about a tablespoon of vegetable or olive oil and sautee until the garlic is fragrant and tan. Then, you add water and cook brown rice like you normally would.
If you want to add even more flavor to your garlic brown rice, you can cook it in chicken, beef, or vegetable stock. This, along with the garlic, will add a huge amount of flavor to your brown rice! You can also make lemon thyme garlic brown rice easily! You add thyme to the garlic rice water while it cooks. Once it’s finished cooking, add a squeeze of lemon to the cooked rice and mix it well. You now have lemon thyme garlic brown rice! You can add other seasonings like saffron and turmeric, or you can add sauces like soy or sriracha too! There are countless ways to spice up your brown rice with garlic!
Brown Rice Transformations
Brown rice can be used in many different recipes to make different kinds of food. You can replace white rice with brown rice in virtually every recipe! For example, chicken fried rice! Instead of using white rice to make chicken fried rice, you can use brown rice and give it a healthy spin! You can also make casseroles and soups with brown rice instead of white. Chicken and brown rice soup is delicious and easy to make.
All you do is cook a couple of chicken breasts in a large pot of boiling chicken broth; about 5 cups of broth. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it and shred the chicken. Then you add about a cup of each onion and celery to the broth along with the shredded chicken. Then you can add ¼ cup of each diced carrots and corn, and any other vegetables you like in your soup! Boil for an additional 20 minutes then add 1 cup of brown rice. Let the soup simmer for about an hour or until the brown rice is tender, and you’re done.
Another way you can transform your brown rice and make it even better is by adding it to any casserole that calls for rice! One of my favorites is chicken, cheddar, and broccoli rice casserole. This casserole is easy to make. You cook the brown rice first. Then you cook a couple of chicken breasts and dice it up into small cubes. You steam some broccoli florets and mix it all together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Then, in a saucepan, you add 1 can of cream of celery with 1 jar of cheese sauce. Stir over medium heat until warmed through. Then add the cheese mixture to the rice, chicken, and broccoli; add the mix into a casserole dish and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. That’s it! There are countless recipes where you can replace white rice with brown rice to make it healthy and hearty!
Brown Rice Is the Best
There are countless ways to make brown rice taste better, and now you know just how to spice up brown rice to transform it into a delicious full meal! You can make different kinds of dishes by replacing the white rice in the recipe with brown rice. Spice up the brown rice with seasonings and add garlic for great flavor.
You can even use brown rice as a replacement for breadcrumbs in recipes; like meatballs, meatloaf, or salmon patties. Brown rice can be used as the breading for things like chicken tenders too!
The ways of cooking and using brown rice are limitless! Transform your brown rice into a casserole, or add it to any soup to make it better. No matter how you choose to spice up your brown rice, you know that you will be choosing a much healthier option than white rice. Brown rice is truly the best!
