Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Soaked Rice & a Nourishing Dinner!

 
 The homework this week from my GNOWFGLINS eCourse is cooking with soaked brown rice.  Soaking grains such as brown rice neutralizes the phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors in the grains.  Our ancestors knew how to properly prepare grains by soaking them, but in our modern day rush, most cooks today do not know how to cook grains for optimal nutrition.

Last night I soaked 2 cups of long grain brown rice in 4 cups of warm spring water with 4 Tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar.  This evening, I drained off the excess soaking liquid (3 & 1/2 cups, which I discarded) and put the soaked rice, 3 & 1/2 cups of fresh spring water, and some coconut oil (~1 Tablespoon) into a heavy saucepan.  I brought the rice mixture to a boil, covered it with a lid, and simmered it on low for about half an hour until all the liquid was absorbed.

 Yum!  While the rice was cooking, I made up my own recipe for a meat topping, with some inspiration from Wardeh's "Sloppy Joe's in a Bowl" recipe on GNOWFGLINS.  I browned 1 pound of grass-fed ground beef with one small diced onion.  Then I added a can of seasoned diced tomatoes (garlic, basil, and oregano), ground pepper, a dash of sea salt, a dash of ground kelp granules, a dash or two of Bragg's Liquid Aminos, a Tablespoon of raw honey, and a couple squirts of organic ketchup (to give it more tomato flavor, but tomato paste would have worked, too).  I just adjusted the seasoning by taste and with what I had on hand!  Then I let it simmer for 20 minutes or so.  What an easy dinner!

To serve, I put a dollop of rice in a bowl, topped it with a scoop of the meat mixture, and offered the kids grated cheese, fresh parsley, and sour cream for toppings.  I also put fermented sauerkraut on mine, and the combination of the sweet rice and tomato sauce with the sourness of the kraut was sublime.  I LOVED it!

Tomorrow I'm going to use some of the leftover rice for a new breakfast porridge.  I'll mix the rice in a saucepan with milk, maple syrup or stevia (I haven't decided), cinnamon, vanilla, and a beaten egg.  I'll cook it until it is all warm and yummy - I can't wait!

Soaked brown rice was very tasty and easy to prepare for dinner (and will be even easier in tomorrow's breakfast!).  Perhaps the best thing about soaking the grains first is that the cooking time is significantly reduced.  Most soaked grains will cook in half the time it takes to cook unsoaked grains.  I hope you are inspired to experiment with new nourishing foods for your family!

1 comment:

  1. I have just discovered your comment about duck eggs on my blog, so apologies for not getting back to you before now. We do try and soak our grains before eating, but in the rush don't always manage it. If we do soak them, we put a bit of whey in as well to help it ferment.

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