Is that MOUSE POOP?!

This gets me EVERY TIME.  I walk bleary-eyed into the kitchen to make my morning coffee, see this out of the corner of my eye and freak out.  ...Until I remember it's red rice from dinner the night before.  

Since Tiffany went gluten free, we've been eating a lot of rice in our house.  Little did I know there's actually quite a variety of rices - more than Uncle Ben's in the pouch or out of the pouch.  Besides brown rice there's Black Rice (also known as Forbidden Rice), purple rice, purple jasmine rice, black rice, black jasmine rice, and Bhutanese red rice just to name a few.

First up, the color looks amazing when you cook it.  Our daughter thinks it's the coolest and dinner guests love it as well.

Second, they taste great.  They all have a mild nutty flavor - of all of them I think the purple rice is my favorite.

Lastly, there are some health benefits to eating other types of rice besides white:

• Just like you should eat as many different colored vegetables for their various health benefits and antioxidants, colored rices have more phytochemicals that provide antioxidant benefits
• The bran, or outer hull, has not been removed so they are whole grains
• They contain more fiber 
• They also contain a good amount of protein
• They have more nutrients like riboflavin, folate, iron, thiamin, niacin, Vitamin E and magnesium
• Rice bran has been found to lower cholesterol levels
• The insulin response is lower

A rice cooker really makes things easy - put in the rice and water, push the button and in 20 minutes you've got a batch of perfectly cooked rice.

You may be wondering where you can find colored rices - any food co-op or natural health food stores have them, and you can also order them online.  We love the Lotus Foods and Alter Eco brands.

Here's to fun and healthy alternatives - just make sure you clean the counters off when you're done.....