Rice Rice Baby

It's been awhile and a lot has happened!

Rion's sister had a baby boy, my mother came for a visit, and the San Francisco Giants won the World Series!  It's been a good month but now it's back to the blog.

My mother surprised me and Rion with how well prepared she was for this visit.  She was on a mission--to save us from white rice and educate us on the many other grains that we should eat.  This was a coup for Rion, who has been trying to get me off white rice since we met.  I insisted that since that's what I ate as a child, that's what we should eat now.  My mom says that this is my dad's fault.  I guess he was the big fan of white rice in my household growing up, which is why it was what we ate.  I can't say that I blame him but after tasting the other options out there, I'm happy to let go of this childhood memory in the name of good health.

We started experimenting with black rice, sweet rice, whole barley, and brown rice.  We are using black turtle beans in the mix as well and have come up with some solid results.  The reason our rice is looking so good is that my mom also graced us with a new pressure rice cooker, which really makes the rice puff to a smoother texture than it normally would in our old, regular cooker.

Thanks, Umma!

To prepare a good mix, I am using 1 cup of brown rice with 1 cup of either the sweet, black, or barley.  The half and half mixture colors the whole pot of rice but it's a pretty, earthy, dark purple.  All of these grains are found at Rainbow Grocery, in organic and in bulk.  The result is a delicious pot of rice that is so tasty, it could be eaten on its own--and I just can't say that about plain white rice.

Now there's no turning back.