Day 5: The Secret to Cooking Brown Rice plus Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Brown rice is seems to be a little more temperamental to cook than white rice...... but over the last few years 

I have perfected my method

 (well at least I think so).

There are 2 VERY IMPORTANT RULES 

when cooking brown rice:

1- NEVER USE SALT (trust me... this helps the rice soften quicker)

2-Use FRESH brown rice (well "fresh" as in..... bought from the store within the last 6 months-1 year....brown rice does not have a 30 year shelf life like "white rice" and if it's TOO OLD it doesn't cook well and is often tough and chewy)

I know it seems simple.... but these two rules will help you cook perfect brown rice (long grain or short grain) just like P.F. Chang's brown rice!!

Now there are as many methods to cooking brown rice as there are varieties of rice (7,000 varieties if you can believe that) but if I  use FRESH RICE and NO SALT   I can cook short grain or long grain rice on the stove with a 2:1 ratio (2 cups water to 1 cup rice). Simply bring rice and water to a rolling boil for 2 minutes, cover and turn the heat to low. Allow to simmer for about 25-30 minutes. Check rice after 15 minutes...if the water seems too low just add a little (don't stress).  When your rice is done you can season it with salt......

Also if you like to roll your own sushi you can use short grain brown rice. Simply cook it and add seasoned rice vinegar to taste and a little bit of sugar (this helps with the stickiness).  

Good luck with your brown rice! 

Here is a simple vegetarian recipe using brown rice

 (this one's for you Megan!)

Vegetable and Brown Rice Stuffed Peppers

I have a confession....I rarely share dinner ideas because I almost NEVER use a recipe when I am cooking dinner??? 

 I know....I Know.... I am sorry!

It's usually like  "Chopped" at my house, I open the basket ingredients and try to be creative? Here is what I did last night and it turned out really good!

1-cooked some brown rice

2-sauteed some veggies (eggplant, red onion, garlic)

3-Added some chopped tomatoes to the sauteed veggies (this helped make a tomatoey sauce like you would find in traditional stuffed peppers.

4-Seasoned it all to taste, and added a little "Better than Bouillon" to give it a nice flavor.

5-Combine veggies and rice.

6-Added a little cheese

6-Cut tops off peppers and cleaned out seeds

7- Stuffed peppers with rice and veggie mixture

8-Baked in the oven 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

9- The last 5 minutes I placed a slice of provolone cheese over each pepper.

Anyways it was YUMMY!  I love the taste of cooked peppers, and the rice mixture was delicious, My kids loved it (minus the pepper)....it was glorified cheese and rice inside a pepper... who wouldn't love that!  Enjoy!