Russian Rice Kasha is a breakfast dish that can be eaten anytime of the day. It provides a delicious alternative to the way-too-sweet breakfast cereals and pancakes laden with maple syrup. I recommend it especially, if you have children. It seems that childhood foods are the ones people gravitate to later in life. (I do). I grew up eating a lot of hot kasha (rice, oats, buckwheat, barley) and it always seems more enjoyable and more nourishing than many other foods. But white rice!!… you might exclaim. Isn’t it bad for you? Is there really anything wrong with white rice? If you compare nutrition of white and brown rice side by side you’ll see that they are nearly identical in every way (calories, protein content, carbs). Yes, brown rice has more fiber than white rice (1 negligible gram more to be precise). Well, kale has more Vitamin C than carrots (85% Vs 13% per cup). Let’s never eat carrots again. I think there is plenty of space for white rice in a balanced healthy diet. All rice is different in terms of creaminess and cooking time. I get the best results with medium grain rice. I tried basmati once and milk started to burn before rice was cooked. I tried something else with equally bad results. So I’m sticking with medium grain for now and I recommend you do the same.
Russian Rice Kasha
Ingredients 1.5 cups medium grain rice 4 cups milk 1 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp salt butter to taste cinnamon (optional) raisins (optional) 1. Add rice, milk, vanilla and salt to a pot. (If you like raisins add them now, but my kids don’t like cooked raisins so I don’t use them in cooking).
2. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes without lifting the lid.
Enjoy as is or add butter and a dash of cinnamon!
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