Cooking Delicious Foolproof Baked Brown Rice - The easy way!

JD

October 03, 2019

0

rice-recipe, tasty-food-recipe

Brown rice is ultimately satisfying, with nutty flavor and serious textural personality. While it’s often steamed, baking it in an aluminum foil– covered dish ensures more even cooking and makes it a simple, hands off endeavor. We found that we needed less liquid than the 2:1 water-to-rice ratio usually advised by rice producers and recipes. Adding boiling water jump-started the cooking process. A small amount of oil complemented the flavor while keeping the rice fluffy. For an accurate measurement of boiling water, bring a full kettle to a boil, then measure out the desired amount. If your baking dish has a lid, it may be used instead of the aluminum foil. To double the recipe, use a 13 by 9-inch baking dish; the baking time does not need to be increased. You can use long-, medium-, or short-grain brown rice. This method also works for long-grain white rice with a few modifications; see the variation.

Serves: 4 to 6
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

2⅓ cups boiling water
1½ cups long-grain, medium-grain, or short-grain brown rice, rinsed
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Procedure

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine boiling water, rice, oil, and ½ teaspoon salt in 8-inch square baking dish.
2. Cover dish tightly with double layer of aluminum foil. Transfer dish to oven and bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 1 hour.
3. Remove dish from oven, uncover, and fluff rice with fork, scraping up any rice that has stuck to bottom. Cover dish with clean dish towel and let rice sit for 5 minutes. Uncover and let rice sit 5 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Foolproof Baked White Rice

Basmati, jasmine, or Texmati rice can also be used in this recipe. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine 2¾ cups boiling water, 1⅓ cups rinsed long-grain white rice, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, and ½ teaspoon salt in 8-inch square baking dish. Cover dish tightly with double layer of aluminum foil. Transfer dish to oven and bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove dish from oven, uncover, and fluff rice with fork, scraping up any rice that has stuck to bottom. Cover dish with clean dish towel and let rice sit for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to

taste and serve.

JAZZING UP PLAIN RICE

To add some oomph to plain rice, try one of these ideas to turn it into a flavorful side dish in no time.

• Add butter, minced fresh herbs, and/or citrus zest.
• Stir in a compound butter (see this page).
• Mix in heartier ingredients for a more substantial side dish to match the flavors of your meal. Some combinations we like are chopped dried fruit, toasted nuts, and goat cheese, or sliced olives, feta, and pine nuts. Or use black beans, cilantro, and lime juice for a Latininspired dish.
• Let the rice cool, then toss with a vinaigrette (see this page) to make rice salad.