Black rice

Have you ever had black rice? Me either until tonight. In fact, I don’t ever recall seeing it at the store before. I was in the rice section looking for quinoa, and the bag of quinoa they had at my local store was almost $7! I knew I could buy it cheaper at Trader Joe’s. Then I saw a bag of this black and mahogany rice.

This black rice is gluten free, vegan, kosher, and contains 100% whole grain. After reading more about black rice, I found that it is becoming more popular as people are learning this is a super food. The dark pigment of the rice gives it the same antioxidant properties such as blueberries. Some antioxidants in black (and brown) rice are fat-soluble, while anthocyanins* are water-soluble and can therefore reach different areas of the body, says Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania. Black rice should be included as part of a varied diet.

*Anthocyanin pigments are responsible for the red, purple, and blue colors of many fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, and flowers.

The one downside? It takes 50 – yes that is FIFTY minutes to cook. It’s the same ratio as cooking rice – you use 1 cup rice to 2 cups water.

I put it on as soon as I got home from work. Did a few things around the house, picked up my older son from school, and by the time we got back, it was done in about 10 minutes.

I decided to just cut up 3 chicken breasts into bite size pieces and saute those in a skillet with a little olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Next I cooked about a half a bag of Trader Joe’s green beans.

So for my dinner, I just piled on some green beans, a big spoonful of black rice on top of that, some chicken and a drizzle of stir fry sauce. So good! And all three of my kids loved the rice! So that’s a winner in my book

For more information about this rice and other recipes, visit Lundberg Black Japonica’s site HERE.

The one thing I forgot to mention is how does it taste? To me it had the same texture and taste as brown rice. Other people have described that it has mushroom taste to it, but I hate mushrooms, and I didn’t taste that flavor in it at all.

If you live in the Chicagoland area – I bought this rice at Dominick’s. You can also check here at their store locator and see if it’s sold near you.

Have you ever tried black rice? What do you make with it?