Rice pudding

Last night, frustrated with my limited kitchen space and the many containers of rice hanging out with nothing to do, I cooked a batch of rice pudding. I found it so appealing to make something delicious, portable (take it to work! eat it warm or cold!), high in protein and fibre AND cupboard-space-freeing that I have resolved to cook more batches in the weeks ahead.

I found a recipe on the Canadian Living web site and used the modification that replaces milk with a combination of coconut milk and cow’s milk. It didn’t require much sugar at all – just a scant 2 tbsp – but there is sweetness galore, probably from the golden raisins which swelled into fat golden grublets, haha.

My sole deviation from CL’s tried and true path (those cooks perform a massive amount of testing in their kitchen labs) was to replace white rice with a rice mix I bought at TNT – a risky move, given that it’s a diverse combo of grains, including short and long lengths and lentils and oats, all needing their own cooking times and liquid ratios. But hey, I’m comfortable with risk when cooking only for myself.

It worked out pretty well, all things considered. Most of the grains are well cooked while a few retain a bit of resistance to the teeth. Yes, it’s al dente rice pudding!

For variety I think I’ll use just one type of rice next time, probably brown, and regular milk. I found a recipe for a rice pudding that is baked in the oven instead of cooked on the stovetop, and another that calls for dried apricot pieces. I will probably make a vanilla short-grain-white-rice-with-cow’s-milk just to see what all the fuss is about (jasmine would probably work well). I have a lot of rice; I should have enough time and rice resources to perfect a tasty and healthy recipe by the time spring rolls around and I can leave my cramped kitchen for the wilderness outdoors.