by hjl
It’s bad enough that the cost of everything is going up but as rice futures soared, two major warehouse stores put limits on the amount of rice. Both warehouse super stores serve restaurants which buy rice in bulk bags of 20 lbs or more and are limiting customer purchases to 4 bags.
This has not effected rice in smaller household packages at this time and Walmart says that they do not forsee any limits in their stores. With recent bans of rice exports from the major suppliers worldwide, a rise in rice prices is to be expected and I would not be surprised to see shortages in some varieties of rice such as jasmine and basmati follow.
It seemed like a good day to explore some rice alternatives. The following foods are made from different grains although it seems like quite a few are made from either wheat or corn.
Rice Alternatives
- Bulgar – made from wheat, it has a nutty flavor and can be either cooked or soaked and eaten raw.
- Barley – this is the stuff in Campbells vegetable beef soup that looks like wheat. It is a grain with a nutlike flavor and a chewy consistency.
- Couscous – a grain from North Africa, it has become more popular in America in recent years. It can be made from wheat, millet, or barley. Couscous has become one of my favorites. I add a little olive oil and garlic instead of butter.
- Quinoa – “The Gold of the Incas” is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked. Quinoa can be purchased at your local health food store.
- Millet – this is the small seed in bird seed. It’s easy to grow as anyone who has a bird feeder can tell you and it is mild in flavor.
- Kasha – is made from buckwheat groats. (Groats are the hulled grain) Kasha is popular in Eastern European countries.
- Polenta – a dish made from boiled cornmeal. This is truly an Italian dish and while I haven’t tried it, you can check out some of the polenta recipes.
- Grits – no list would be complete without adding this southern staple. Although recognized primarily as a breakfast food, there are dozens of ways to prepare grits.
Do you have any other rice alternatives? Have you tried any of these?
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Tags: Recipes
It’s a good thing to be willing to try alternatives. Healthier to eat a variety, too. I read that during a famine in France – maybe in the 1800′s – they ate all of the animals in the zoo and barely touched a warehouse full of rice.
JW, you are right and I have found some of my favorite foods by looking for alternatives. I don’t think I am nearly ready to start eating zoo animals though.
Kasha is the best! I prefer it over rice. But i kinda grew up on it. Try it will some milk and a pinch of sugar a great healthy snack.
It’s pretty rough on those who use rice as a staple food. I see a lot of worried and upset people at our local Bangladeshi groceries.
Guinness, I am sure that it is very rough on those people and I have a feeling it’s going to get a bit rougher on all of us. I would expect rising prices rather than shortages though and that is bad enough.
I haven’t tried any of those (except the barley in Campbell’s soup). I’ll have to give some of them a try.
We’ve had couscous, quinoa, polenta of course and grits. I don’t find that grits or polenta are a rice alternative because they are used differently in dishes. They are both good though, especially polenta. Couscous is much finer than rice but a good alternative. Quinoa I’ve had once in a restaurant and it was great, but when cooking it at home I haven’t had much luck. One alternative not listed above which is great and more “rice like” is Farro. I highly recommend it, but do not over cook it. It should be slightly chewy, not mushy.
I have never had Farro or polenta. I have had grits cooked in some very different ways.
I am not that fond of them. I love Couscous especially with olive oil and garlic.
FYI, couscous isn’t actually a grain, it’s a pasta. I find it particularly tasty cooked/rehydrated in a vegetable or chicken broth. A nice twist my mom likes to use is mixing plain couscous (not broth-flavored) with mint, slivered almonds, and halved grapes. Very interesting, indeed.
Shawn, I’m surprised you’ve had little success with quinoa at home! I use it because its a protein and fiber-rich whole grain without the prolonged cooking time of brown rice. My only thought is to make sure you rinse it VERY thoroughly before cooking – the tiny grains have a nasty-tasting natural coating, probably to discourage hungry critters (like us) who want to eat the seeds before they can germinate.