Could I be a Rice Pudding Convert??

I have never been a rice pudding fan. It’s not one of those “comforting dishes that mum used to cook” for me. She was more a packet mix chocolate self-saucing pudding mum. Or ice-cream wafer sandwiches. So when I was advised to start having more brown rice in my diet, rice pudding certainly wasn’t what came to mind. But it was suggested, so I thought I’d give a few recipes a go. Plus with the weather starting to cool down, warm pudding is totally comforting for breakfast or dessert. The first recipe I tried used full fat coconut milk and it was super delicious, but the coconut milk was too much for me (or maybe I just ate too much of it!) and gave me a dodgy belly. I’ll review that one another time.

So I thought this recipe from Georgia at Well Nourished might be a bit gentler. Georgia says to use “milk of choice”, so I chose almond milk. There are also a lot of optional flavours and spices to add, so I went with lemon zest, nutmeg and a little mixed spice. I also added flaked almonds and some blueberries and raspberries on top.

The resulting pudding was delicious, but quite wet and watery. I noticed on her post for the recipe someone commented that the pudding was wet and Georgia replied that it was intentional because that’s how her kids like it. I personally didn’t like how wet it was, but it tasted great so I devoured it anyway! Ha!

My tips:

• if you like your rice pudding quite wet, stick with the recipe. If, like me, you prefer a thicker, firmer pudding, reduce the amount of milk. Next time I cook it I will probably reduce it by 1/3.
• the recipe says to cook for 20 minutes, but mine took closer to 30 minutes. Might be my oven, might be the type of milk I used. Either way, keep an eye on your pudding from 20 minutes onwards and pull it out when it has set and resembles custard.
• this tastes pretty great warm or cold, so you could totally make it the night before and keep it in the fridge overnight to serve cold in the morning.

What’s good about brown rice? Well, for starters it’s rich in selenium, which reduces cancer risk and improves immune function. Brown rice is also a great source of manganese, used for energy production and antioxidant protection against free radicals. More great info on brown rice can be found at www.whfoods.com