Rice is an underrated icon. World-famous, inspires our imagination, plays well with others, happily takes a supporting role but desperately deserves the lead, never misses. Considering rice’s legacy as a beloved food muse, why do we so often banish it to the side dish genre? Maybe it’s because rice is so often lumped in with carbohydrates as a food we should control our portions of or as a food that can only be enjoyed alongside our proteins and greens. The side dish slander stops here because rice, and Planet Rice in particular, certainly don’t deserve to only occupy the saddest, tiniest quarter of our plates.
Pilaf. Pudding. Risotto. Paella. Arancini. Onigiri. Jollof. Biryani. Next time someone tells you rice is certainly not fit to be the whole meal, invoke the names of these dishes that put all eyes on the starchy kernel we love. Whether bold or comforting, sweet or savory, with its bran or without, rice steals the show.
If you believe rice doesn’t boast the health benefits required to hog more of the plate, you’ve been led astray. Rice offers us more than 15 essential vitamins and minerals including folic acid, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, selenium, fiber, iron, and zinc. It’s a complex carbohydrate, meaning your body will digest it slowly and keep you energized. Whole grains like our brown rice help reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Brown rice also offers a lower glycemic index. If you choose our sprouted rice, you’re getting even more valuable nutrients, including more of the amino acid GABA, and a food that’s more bioavailable. Eating for food sensitivities? Rice is naturally gluten free and ours is non allergenic. If your doctor has been speaking to you about high blood pressure and cholesterol – you’ve found an excellent food to fit your health needs. Research even shows that eating carbohydrates like rice increases levels of serotonin, helping you boost your mood. It’s happy food. On top of all of these benefits for your personal health, Planet Rice products are non-GMO, grown at family farms within 100 miles of our mill, and by growers whose practices are responsible and sustainable.
If that’s not enough star power for you, consider those mealtimes when your time is crunched and you’d love to save money. Planet Rice will happily carry the whole meal on its back. Recipes the world over prove that a bag of rice and some pantry creativity make amazing flavors. Planet Rice cooks up rapidly, can satiate the whole family, and can go a long way (even staying fresh on your shelf for 6 months to a year). Instead of placing another wildly expensive mobile food order, grab a pot and a bag of Planet Rice.
While some of the Planet Rice team claim our rice is so good it only calls for butter, salt, and pepper (no judgement), we can elevate that recipe a bit.
Super easy rice-centric meal ideas:
- Got some bone broth on hand? Planet Rice cooked with bone broth tastes incredible and means you’re adding all of bone broth’s collagen, protein, and additional vitamins to your dish. (Add an elegantly sliced avocado for serious bonus points).
- For vegans and vegetarians, a bag of frozen carrots and peas, Planet Rice, and some sesame oil + soy sauce make speedy but tasty fried rice.
- Lentils and rice à la Persian Adas Polo can be such a healthy flavor bomb. Tap into your spice cabinet, keep your cooking water briney, and sprinkle some raisins, dates, currants or apricots in at the end for tartness.
- Steamed Planet Rice and an omelet sprinkled with Furikake seasoning cannot go wrong.
You’ve cleverly located a rice that is good for you and great for the planet, so why hide it between your veggie medley and grilled meat? We encourage you to get radical with your rice. Bejewel it with dried fruits and nuts, drizzle it with saffron tea, roll it around some buttery yellowtail, wrap it in bamboo leaf. Just don’t call it side-anything when it so clearly has main character energy.