Rice… So Nice

Cooking rice two pounds at a time is a bountiful experience in a small household. A big potful of grains expanded to several times the original volume is a variation of the loaves-and-fishes miracle.

First enjoyment after cooking, in my household, is to serve myself and Ethan piping-hot bowls of rice with salt and butter. That’s our appetizer. Then we build the following meal around more of the same, usually making beans and rice plus cornbread. We also like stir-fried oriental vegetable and rice—or just about any food medley with rice as a base.

Leftovers from the rice pot later get divided in half: one portion for the fridge and the other for the freezer. The freezer portions are packaged as double servings in plastic zip-bags. These servings are easy to access and thaw for quick additions to meals and are good, filling extenders for pots of soup.

If I were a purist, I wouldn’t add butter or oil to the pot when cooking the rice. Doing that is traditionally frowned upon. Speaking for myself, though, I occasionally would have scorched batches of rice had I not splashed in some oil as protection.

Brown rice is my preference over white, for nutrition and taste. Nowadays, I’ve heard, most corn and soybeans are genetically modified and may actually be harmful to health. So far, rice and wheat have reportedly escaped this adulteration. So has popcorn: another hot-with-butter-and-salt favorite.

Aromas from the kitchen are enticing me there, announcing that tonight’s pot of rice is nearly done. I’ll snap a photo of our meal appetizer for you before Ethan and I enjoy it. ♥ ~Jo

Epilogue: We made our meal of hot buttered rice alone.

* * *
Photo Credits: Both by Jo Lightfoot