Coconut Rice

Plain Brown Rice. No coconut...yet.

Rice is something that pops up in many of the meals we make here at home, either as part of a main dish or as a side. There are so many wonderful rice recipes out there, but what I've learned over the last few days is that rice - in its basic form - can also be wonderful.

After my stomach finally settled down enough to allow me to eat something solid, I turned to the familiar comfort of the B.R.A.T diet. After finishing up all the bananas and applesauce that we had in the house, I wasn't quite feeling up to toast yet, so I settled on the rice part.

I just wasn't sure if bland brown rice was going to be good. I wanted to at least enjoy what limited food I was eating if possible. However, there wasn't much I could think of doing with the brown rice that wouldn't have had my stomach stressing out.

Normally, if I am making a side of brown rice, my favorite way to do so is to bake it. It's quick, easy and for some reason tastes ten times better than simply cooking it on the stovetop. However, I also usually use a bunch of oil and chicken/vegetable broth with this method - so that was out.

Padding around my pantry, I looked to see what I could use, and stumbled across something that isn't normally there: coconut water.

Somebody had suggested that I drink some coconut water while ill, to replenish my lost vitamins, so I had my brother go out to the store and pick me up some. He came back with this:

Goya? Oh, Boya!

I wasn't quite sure that this is what my friend had in mind. I'm not completely clueless and have heard tell of fancy coconut water that people drink when they workout and such. I've just never actually had it. A quick google search proved me right, and my husband promised that he would bring back some of the "fancy" coconut water later that evening.

Perhaps the grown up juice box appeal makes it fancy? Still unsure.

In the end, I actually tried both, and the Goya is just as tasty as the fancy, $2.50/boxy bottle ones, so...(I'm sure somebody will point out the difference to me soon enough).

Either way, I still had a six pack of Goya in the pantry and needed to do something with it. For some reason, it made perfect sense for me to incorporate it into my rice (the fever had broken at this point, I swear!).

I went with the standard method of 1 cup of brown rice to 2 cups of liquid - only in this case I used 2 cups of coconut water. I passed on the usual pinch of salt and dash of either butter or oil I normally add, just in case my stomach wasn't quite there yet. I heated it up until it boiled, and then allowed it to simmer for almost an hour.

The end result was incredibly tasty. The rice was sweet, creamy and delicious, without being overly powerful. It was actually enjoyable to eat, rather than simple bland nutrition. Plus, it was kind of fun to find a little nibble of coconut flesh in every other bite.

As I ate, I started thinking of how I could use this newfound knowledge of coconut rice. I could add pineapple, cashews, chicken and a dash of curry powder. I could add raisins, cinnamon and milk for a little pudding action. It was at this point that I knew I was truly on the mend. 

Since I still have a couple cans of coconut water still lurking around, I'm sure I will test out some of these ideas and see what I come up with. Hopefully these ideas will end up working just as well!