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I just had some Ben's Jasmine Coconut rice with oven roasted mackerel, and garlic/butter broccolini. I made it myself. It is so good. I might do it again.
Growing up Carribbean, rice is our staple. I don't feel normal if I don’t have rice once a week. I grew up eating white rice but now try to only eat brown rice as it's packed with nutrients. Brown basmati rice is my preference.
I think it's a question of scale. Large amount of (plain white) rice are grown in the US south. People are used to eating it.
Yes, scale definitely figures in. Corn and common rice are grown in huge quantities and so not only are they available everywhere, they are also very inexpensive.
That said, I also like the following, which have more fiber and more flavor than white rice or corn:
Oats
Wild Rice
Farro
Bulgur
Barley
Quinoa
If you have a Trader Joe's near you, I can heartily recommend their 10-minute varieties of Farro, Bulgur and Barley - not only easy to find, but quick and convenient for weekday meals, and not too expensive. I believe the grains have been par-boiled, and so they don't need too much more cooking.
Why rice is the most popular grain in the US?
(well, corn is very popular too, but usually accompanied by rice or potatoes, while buckwheat, barley, quinoa, or millet don't need that company).
You barely, if ever, encounter on restaurants menu buckwheat, barley, quinoa, or millet. Rice (mostly white) and potato rules - as a side dish to you meat, fish or vegetarian dish.
Not to mention that even rice comes in variety of colors (and taste) like red, pink, brown, yellow, purple or black.
I think we should eat more varieties of grains. It's healthy and delicious!
I bought some quinoa but haven't cooked it yet. I have no idea what it tastes like. It was pricey, for a grain, as I recall.
I don't care for the taste of barley. I have no idea what millet or buckwheat tastes like.
I suppose more people don't eat more different types of grains because they're not in the major grocery stores? I've never seen or heard of red or pink rice, for instance. I've never seen buckweat, etc., in a grocery store.
I suppose more people don't eat more different types of grains because they're not in the major grocery stores? I've never seen or heard of red or pink rice, for instance. I've never seen buckweat, etc., in a grocery store.
That's most likely because you've never noticed it or looked for it. I can't imagine a major grocery store that wouldn't have it.
Why rice is the most popular grain in the US?
(well, corn is very popular too, but usually accompanied by rice or potatoes, while buckwheat, barley, quinoa, or millet don't need that company).
You barely, if ever, encounter on restaurants menu buckwheat, barley, quinoa, or millet. Rice (mostly white) and potato rules - as a side dish to you meat, fish or vegetarian dish.
Not to mention that even rice comes in variety of colors (and taste) like red, pink, brown, yellow, purple or black.
I think we should eat more varieties of grains. It's healthy and delicious!
Great topic. Americans are largely potato, corn and white rice eaters. In the last century, grain were served as the "starch" in meals featuring for example, chicken, white rice, and peas and carrots. Rice was also popular with fish dinners, especially salad. Some people added peas to rice, mostly for color.
Rice was heavily advertised as a potato alternative in the 50s-80s. It was grown in the American South. I can hear the commercial in my head "Caro-lina! The extra long grain rice" was the advertisement for Carolina Rice. Another brand was Uncle Ben's (Now just "Ben's" because "Uncle" was a term bestowed upon favored enslaved males)
So on the east coast, rice was served probably once or twice a week, as a side dish, or added to home made chicken soup. In the Northern quarter of the US, the Eastern Seaboard, from NY to central Florida, Mexican and Cuban food was unheard of until the late 70s. If you visited South Florida frequently, you would have to look in a Cuban neighborhood to find Cuban food. On the menus of restaurants, rice would appear as a side dish, or as a bed for something like Shrimp Newburgh.
Now, I am from NY, and we eat a little different from the rest of the country. Buckwheat was and is eaten frequently in New York. Until recently, usually as part of a dish called Kasha Varnishkas - buckwheat with bow tie pasta. My German grandmother also made buckwheat as a breakfast cereal with fruits in season and nuts. In the NYC area, Knishes are and have always been popular and available. I'm sure you know what a Knish is but others might not - it's a savory pastry, stuffed with buckwheat (Kasha) or potatoes, onions, garlic and other spices. It's a hand held food, so you can eat it while walking.
I really lover buckwheat or kasha. I am not sure if "kasha" is roasted buckwheat groats In NYC, we used the terms "buckwheat" and "kasha" pretty much interchangeably.
I grew up eating barley quite a bit. Beef Barley Soup, Mushroom barley soup were very common. So was barley and mushrooms as a side dish or a meal. Pearl barley is delicious too. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/22...ley-casserole/ That's an old recipe that I know. I add a lot more mushrooms. To us, with a green salad, that's a meal.
My grandmother also used farrow. Sometimes she would add it to chopped meat to stuff cabbage or sweet peppers. It could also turn up on the breakfast table with fruits in season and nuts. Really delicious, healthy, protein packed breakfast. My grandmother would also use it instead of meat in the Lenten season, because she was a devout Lutheran. In the Depression is stretched out meat, and in WWII, meat was rationed.
Wild rice is delicious, but I think it isn't really a rice, but a grain. I like wild rice mixed with regular rice, vegetables and a fried egg on top. In fact, any of these grains can be easily made into a quick, delicious meal, or "bowl" as people are calling them this way - caramelize a sweet white onion, or leeks, add cooked kale, chard, or cabbage, cook for a while, add a cooked diced sweet potato, garlic, and Hungarian paprika.
If you want, top it with a fried egg. Cucumber salad with sour cream goes well with this.
All of these grains are great in bowls with broccoli, sweet potatoes, onions and mushrooms, or cooked and added to salad as a PROTIEN - not a side dish starch.
Bowls containing these grains are popular among millennials who live in expensive, East Coast cities.
They are also good mixed with an egg, some chopped onions, spices and made into paties. My son and his girlfriend had a freezer full of them when I visited last in February. They ate them as sliders.
I agree that grains are under used by many Americans. Much of this has to do with a fundamental misunderstanding of their place in a meal. They are NOT side dishes and are packed with protein and other nutritious components.
With people complaining about the price of meat, these versatile ancient grains are worth getting to know!
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