White Rice: a Staple Food That Often Goes Unnoticed -- With Recipes

I grew up eating a lot of rice. As in multiple meals a week. My father has a sensitive stomach and rice was his "medicine" allowing him to manage without stomach pain as long as he ate it regularly, and so, it was a staple in our home. Being gluten free myself, we have a lot of rice in my home too. I always get shocked at people that cook just one or two cups of rice, since I cook 4-5 cups at a time and sometimes more, because I use rice as the base for so many meals. Here's some more about rice that you might not have already known:

In this vertiginous life where we receive tons of new information every second, we may feel lost trying to keep up to date. This situation occurs in all aspects of our life, well, at least in mine, particularly when planning my family’s meals.

I am constantly searching for fresh ideas for cooking and keeping the line of frugal, vegan, and gluten-free dishes. With all the incoming information, new trends, new cooking techniques, new superfoods, and so on, I forget that I already have in my pantry all I need.

One of those unnoticed and underused ingredients is rice. Yes, rice, as you read. People are unaware of all the benefits and use this grain offers.

All about rice

Rice is a worldwide staple food, it means we all have eaten it, cooked with it, and have a package or more at home. We are all used to having rice in daily meals, forgetting its benefits, and the vast range of dishes we can prepare with rice.

So, let’s learn a little more about this extraordinary grain. There are more than 40,000 varieties of rice, divided in two significant groups Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima. Rice we usually prepare at home belongs to the Oryza sativa species.

Inside this variation, there is also another classification for recognizing them in a better way: long-grain, medium-grain, and short-grain rice. This grouping refers to the size, length, and shape of the grain. The grain size determines the final texture of the rice, therefore they are used for different recipes and cooking techniques.

• Long-grain rice: It has a light and fluffy texture when cooked. This type includes white rice, brown rice, basmati, and jasmine.
• Medium-grain rice: Its texture is chewy, tender, and a bit sticky. They are bomba rice, carnaroli, and Valencia rice.
• Short-grain rice: It has a soft, tender, and stickier texture. It includes sushi rice and Arborio.

Health benefits

Rice is commonly cooked without knowing it provides many benefits to our body health. It is surprising how it works for making us feel better and to help avoid several diseases.

These benefits are:

• It is gluten-free.
• Natural anti-inflammatory.
• Source of B vitamins, which improves the health of the nervous system.
• Source of carbohydrates that our body transforms into energy.
• It helps to regulate the digestive system thanks to its fiber content.
• Good for maintaining weight.
• Great source of protein.

Simple but delicious recipes

Now that you know you have in your pantry a superpower food, you cannot miss any opportunity to cook it at home.

There are countless rice recipes you can get your hands on. The idea is to use all your creativity for making delicious dishes and take advantage of rice’s benefits.

For instance, you can begin with a simple white rice recipe as a base and incorporate several components to make a great preparation.

Maybe you already know how to cook white rice, but let’s take the chance to remember some quick steps.

White rice recipe

Ingredients (4 servings):
1 cup of white rice.
2 cups of water.
½ tsp of salt.

Preparation:
1. Pour 2 cups of water in a saucepan and put over medium heat until it boils.
2. Add rice, stirring thoroughly, add the salt and cook until boiling again. 
3. At that point, reduce heat to low, and cover the saucepan.
4. Cook rice until water is absorbed.

You can use this white rice as a side dish, or reserve it for using as a base for other delicious meals such as:

• Lemon Rice.
• Vegan Fried Rice.
• One-Pot Cajun Rice.
• Spinach Rice.

Turning plain white rice into a delightful dish is very easy. Let’s try one of these recipes.

Vegan fried rice

Ingredients (4 servings):
1 cup of cooked white rice.
1 tablespoon of vegan butter.
2 tablespoons of soy sauce.
½ tablespoon of rice wine vinegar.
½ tablespoon of sugar.
½ cup of chopped onion.
½ cup of fresh peas.
½ cup of finely chopped carrots.

Preparation:

1. Use a small bowl to combine the soy sauce with rice wine vinegar and the sugar. Reserve.
2. In a saucepan, add butter and cook until butter melts. Add onion and cook until it gets a golden color.
3. Incorporate peas, and carrots, stir very well, and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add the soy sauce preparation and rice. Combine all ingredients very well.
5. Cook for 5 more minutes.
6. Serve hot.