I'm trying to incorporate more rice into my diet. It's alright when eaten with a curry or chilli con carne, but eaten as a side dish like vegetables with a main meal and I'm stuck for ideas give it more flavour without making it too high in calories. I don't want to add any salt or boil it in salted water. Can anyone suggest anything to pep it up a bit? Also, is brown rice necessarily any better for you than the white variety or does it have to be wholegrain? Are there any particular varieties that are more flavoursome? And how do you stop it from going all gooey and sticking together and congealing in the pan?

I've used stock or marmite to cook it in before - you could try a low salt stock cube? Bit like risotto but without the veg and cheese
I always rinse rice well before cooking think that stops it sticking
Brown rice is supposed to be better for you as it is unprossesed and has the husk (?) and associated fibre/ vitamins with it. Does take forever to cook though!!
Px

The only think I can suggest - keep rice down to minimum - 100g per serving, eat more of the other stuff, stirr-fry would be the best.
Cooking - one volume of rice to 1.7 volume of water. Buy yourself a rice cooker and basmanti is the best.

hi i have become a convert to wholemeal brown rice, although it does take longer to cook, when i cook rice i always drain it in a colender under cold water when it is cooked then use boiling water from the kettle to heat it up again. You could try adding frozen peas/ sweetcorn to it or add fresh parsley over the top. I dont tend to keep cooked rice as there is the risk of salmonella. I would love to be able to make egg fried rice it just never tastes the same when i try to do it.

michelle

You can get some lovely (and fairly low-cal) stir fry sauces which really pep up rice and veg -- just check the label, as some are two or three times higher in calories/fat than others!

Ali

Wholegrain is best.
I add vegetables roasted with a small smear of olive oil, especially garlic, peppers, onion wedges, courgettes.

Wholemeal (Brown) rice is is the best to eat - it is high in B vitamins and Zinc as well as a great source of fibre. Basmatic rice is delicious but it is processed to remove the husk and is very easily digested and therefore does not give a feeling a satiety or fullness for long - so basically you to eat again soon.

Buy brown rice and just cook it according to the instructions on the packet, also look out for easy cook rice which is "steamed" before packing and cooks much quicker.

Greek Rice with Spinach and Feta

Fry a large chopped onion and 3 cloves garlic in large heavy pan.

Add 2 cups brown rice and can chopped tomatoes

Gradually add veg stock til rice cooked ( about 1 1/2 pts)

Place spinach leaves on top to wilt then stir in cubed feta.

Easy peasy!

Cooked this for tea tonight and have saved enough to take to work tomorrow - the theory is, that brown rice acts like a toilet brush to the internal pipes

Hi Andrew
I usually buy easy-cook rice as (a) it is quicker to cook and (b) it doesn't go all sticky like normal rice. Basmati has most flavour and Sainsbury's do easy-cook Basmati.

If you make a risotto with loads of vegetables, you probably only need about 60 - 75g of rice so save on calories. I use Marigold bouillon powder (reduced salt) to flavour it.

Let us know if you come up with any good ideas!

We didn't much like rice, but have experimented and found Brown Basmati to be the best (25 mins cooking time).
Flavour with soy sauce, or salad dressing etc.

Most rice is high GI. Even brown is quite high. I use brown basmati as it has the lowest GI value of any rice. It's easy to cook too.

I am hooked on brown rice and pasta now since reading about it getting the fat off your stomach!! Haven't seen any improvement on the tyre(s) yet but it's worth a try!

I also like risotto and make a similar one to Fiona's above with the Marigold. I add frozen prawns too when frying the veg and then add the (rinsed) rice (8 or 9oz), Thai curry paste and 0.75 litres water/0.25 litres value cider.

I do actually keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days and microwave it till it's piping hot in the middle and I've had no problems (touch wood).

I have also discovered frozen soya beans (Bird's Eye or Tesco's own) which are delicious added in.

... me too - they're delicious aren't they? I don't shop in Tesco, but I discovered the Bird's Eye ones a while back. I put them in right at the end so they're still chewy.

Oh definitely yes. I could eat them by the shedload - meant to be super good for you. They would probably be nice cold with balsamic vinegar as well. I mix them with frozen broad beans too.

M&S have delicious blueberries at the moment - big and very sweet!

how many does this serve Sue?

On days when I'm in the mood for cooking i do cook a mean risotto with chicken, bacon, mushrooms, onions and garlic using a chicken stock cube. I will have to try and convert to a veggie stock cube and make other rice dishes. does cooked rice freeze well?

I often freeze it, so far it has come out ok. I let it defrost before reheating it though. Make sure its piping hot though to make sure that any bacteria have ben destroyed.

at least 4 hungry folk!

hi andrew

try sue reed's recipe with the feta etc. leave out the tomatoes. fry (just a little oil) garlic and french beans, a little crunchy sea salt, mix with the brown basmati (has to be basmati). delicious! don't eat huge quantities. really good mixed with salad leaves. (keeps in fridge so can cook a couple of batches).

best
jan--

I eat basmati brown rice and just generally mix it with whatever I'm eating in the way of mix rather than flavour it. It is a slow release carb and low GI/GL. White rice is like white bread, very different and much worse for you in my view. I cook a lot every few days and then just heat it in the microwave for a few minutes with each meal (I don't eat bread)

Buy now whilst stocks last... joking but they're rationing it in some US stores because of the worldwide food shortages.

Slightly off topic, and yet on the subject of rice, has anyone else come across the website www.freerice.com ?

It's a sort of vocabulary quiz - you have to answer the correct meaning of words and the more you get right, the more rice is donated to the UN World Food Program.

Get all your kids doing it!

Oh, yes - freerice.com is addictive...

Elspeth, have you managed to get up to 50 yet?

I don't usually eat breakfast i just have a black coffee with 2 spoonfulls of sweetners and when i do i try and have 2 weetebix with a chopped banana and sometimes honey and ice cold milk. or if I'm in pigging out mood its a grilled smoked bacon with grilled cheese and a fried egg on either white or wholemeal bread and that's at the weekend when i can sit and watch saturday kitchen with james martin, yummy!

If I have plain rice with say fish (usually a piece if salmon), I chop up the salmon with the rice and add soy sauce. Really delicious! Soy sauce on the rice by itself livens it up nicely.