Brown Rice

Why is brown rice on a freezer cooking website? I’m glad you asked! Brown rice takes forever to cook, but it is soooooo much better for you than white rice. And, it tastes better. Kind of nutty. Yummmmm…

but I digress.

The reason it’s on a freezer cooking site is because you can freeze it. Yep. And reheat it. And it takes a LOT less time than trying to cook it from scratch. So, my suggestion is to make a lot of brown rice and to freeze it in dinner serving size bags (or lunch size servings–like I will be doing for the bento lunches my son has requested).

Nicole, over at Pinch My Salt, gives some great directions on how to make perfect brown rice every time.

Perfect Brown Rice

(adapted from Saveur)

brown rice (whichever type you prefer)
water – use at least four cups of water for every one cup of rice
salt – to taste

Rinse rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds, swirling the rice around with your hand. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. When water boils, add the rice, stir it once. Turn heat to medium and boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 30 minutes, pour the rice into a strainer over the sink. Let the rice drain for 10 seconds, then return it to the pot, off the heat. Immediately cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and set it aside to allow the rice to steam for 10 minutes (if your pot lid isn’t extremely tight, place a piece of aluminum foil over pot then place the lid on top of foil for a tighter seal). After ten minutes, uncover rice, fluff with a fork, and season with salt to taste.

Maki, over at JustBento.com, says that the brown rice will be perfect if you package and freeze while the rice is still warm. I am assuming that is because the rice is still quite moist, and the moisture is trapped when you package it warm.