Easy Brown Rice

For the most part, I try to feed my family healthy foods, including whole grains. Our bread is always 100% whole wheat, and I try to use wheat flour in many of our recipes- but brown rice is a grain I've never gotten used to using. It is harder to cook than white rice, and never seems to turn out as well.

Until now!

I got a new light cookbook for my birthday, and one of the recipes in it is for brown rice. The authors acknowledge that following the normal directions, brown rice does not turn out well. So they came up with a new way of cooking it that is delicious & fool-proof! :) I used this last night in my Taco Rice Casserole. It made exactly twice what I needed for the recipe, so I used half, and froze half in a ziploc bag to use later. No one but me could even tell I used brown rice instead of white!

Easy Brown Rice
Printable version here

1 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces) brown rice
2 1/3 cups water
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat the oven to 375º.

2. Spread rice in an ungreased 8x8 inch baking dish. In a medium covered saucepan, heat the water & oil until boiling. Once it boils, uncover, stir in salt, then pour over rice. (I heat it in the microwave, instead.) Immediately cover baking dish with a double layer of foil. (Pressing firmly on the edges of the foil helps the water to not escape while cooking.)

3. Bake until the rice is tender, about 55 minutes. Carefully uncover dish, and fluff rice with a fork. Serves 6.

*The recipe can also be doubled and cooked in a 9x13 pan. Baking time remains the same.

*To use frozen rice: Thaw, place in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, then microwave until warm.

Why I love it? It's super easy, yummy, and healthy! I found it a lot easier cooking it this way than on the stove- where it seems like you're constantly tinkering with the knob to get it simmering at the right temperature. It's versatile, too. You can use it in a casserole like I did, or really just anywhere you'd use white rice. Enjoy!