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By Jennifer Birch – Rice is extremely versatile and a rural rice recipe can go with just about any cuisine. According to Ricepedia, more than half of the world’s population (or 3.5 billion people) derive 20% of their daily calorie intake from rice — and for good reason. As a cereal grain, rice comes with a lot of health benefits. Aside from providing us with energy and preventing obesity, rice helps regulate blood pressure, improve skin condition, reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, eliminate toxins in the body, improve metabolism and boost cardiovascular health.

This carbohydrate-rich food is easy to store and cook. As mentioned in our previous post ‘Eliminating Weevils in Flour and Rice’, you just have to remember to store it in tight-lidded containers with some bay leaves to ward off bugs such as weevils. When it comes to cooking, you can either prepare rice by using a stove or a rice cooker.

To help you get started, here are some simple rice recipes you can make:

Veggie Rice and Beans

A lot of people shy away from rice because of the false belief that it can easily make them fat. However, in most cases, all you have to do is combine these nutritious grains with the right ingredients to make it fit for special diets. That’s exactly what Veggie Rice and Beans is all about. This Mexican-inspired, easy-to-cook dish combines rice with a wide variety of vegetables including carrots, peas, cilantro, onion, and red bell pepper. While both onions and carrots are rich in vitamin A, which promotes good vision and improves immunity, peas and cilantro are both rich in vitamin K, which plays a crucial role in blood clotting, bone metabolism, and blood calcium regulation. The best part is how easy this is to prepare. You would only need to combine all of the ingredients in a pan, which could take you just 15 minutes, at most.

Curried Butternut Squash and Brown Rice Skillet

There’s nothing quite like a bowl of fluffy brown rice soaked in sweet, savory, and spicy curry sauce. This rural rice recipe is great for vegetarians who would like to take their tongues on an exploration of perfectly-balanced flavors. Sweet and nutty, butternut squash is rich in vitamin A, which helps regulate cell growth and improve cell function. It’s also packed with vitamin C, which supports wound healing, collagen synthesis, tissue repair and immune function. To make this dish, all you have to do is sauté garlic and onion in olive oil, then add in the brown rice. Once the rice grains are all coated with oil, stir in the squash, chickpeas, curry powder, salt and pepper. Then add the tomatoes and vegetable broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes.

Sushi Burrito

Combine two of the most well-loved snack with this Sushi Burrito recipe. This healthy snack combines tuna, nori, rice, pickled ginger and wasabi into a wrap that’s perfect for people who are always on the go. One of its main ingredients, tuna, is packed with omega-3 fatty acids — known to promote heart health, as well as folate, iron and vitamin B12, which are nutrients that help prevent anemia. Aside from tuna, this fusion food also has avocados, which are packed with monosaturated fat that allows you to absorb nutrients from plants more efficiently. To make this hearty and heart-healthy dish, begin by laying out a nori sheet and spreading some rice over it. Then layer all other ingredients such as avocado, cucumber, carrot, and tuna on top of the rice. Top everything with the wasabi mix (a combination of wasabi, ginger, and lime juice) and roll away.

Mango Sticky Rice

In most cases, desserts are the greatest adversity for individuals who are watching their weight. However, that’s not the case for this classic Thai dessert. In this rice recipe, the medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) from the coconut milk work to reduce body weight and waist size, aiding you in shedding weight. The non-dairy milk used in this recipe also promotes heart health and boosts the immune system. Making the recipe involves cooking fluffy, almost dry and sticky rice in copious amounts of creamy coconut milk to make a flavorful dish topped with sweet mangoes. Rich in antioxidants and fiber, mangoes improve digestive health and reduce the risk of certain types of cancer including leukemia and cancers of the colon, lung, prostate, and breast.

Tomato-Basil Chicken and Rice

Bake rice with chicken and make it flavorful with some tomato and basil. To make this filling dish, all you have to do is sauté some rice grains in a large skillet with garlic and tomatoes, transfer it to a baking dish, pour in the chicken broth, top it with chicken thighs, and let it bake in the oven for 45 minutes. This rural rice recipe, which can be enjoyed by the whole family, is rich in lycopene — a powerful antioxidant that can protect the body from oxidative stress, certain environmental toxins, and chronic diseases. It also promotes heart health by reducing total and ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol levels and increasing ‘good’ HDL cholesterol.

There are many ways you can enjoy rice. With the right recipe, it can either be a snack, a dessert, or a main course that you can enjoy with the whole family.

What are your favorite rural rice recipes? We’d love to hear them in the comments below.