FORBIDDEN RICE

If you are like me, when you hear the word, "forbidden”, it immediately sparks the curiosity gene and I need to know the "whys." Of course if "forbidden” is against the law, I am quite compliant. I have never felt laws were designed to irritate me or restrict me but to protect me and others from me.

I was mostly raised with the parental commands of “we don't want you to, we'd rather you didn't, and you are stupid if you do.” I don't ever recall the term “forbidden” being used in my family. Forbidden seems to come under the “apple in the Garden of Eden,” category. I mean, that is a huge word.

Recently on Dr. Oz and also on morning news programs, the term “forbidden” kept coming up. It was attached to a bag of rice. Forbidden Rice was so named in ancient China as the rice that was only to be eaten by the Emperor, thus it was forbidden to the masses.

What science has discovered is that this is not only a very superior rice, it has amazing nutritional values. It is black in color and turns deep purple when cooked. Its dark purple color is primarily due to its high anthocyanin content which has powerful antioxidant properties. It has a relatively high mineral content (including iron) and, like most rice, supplies several important amino acids.

According to a study presented by the American Chemical Society, “one spoonful of black rice bran contains more anthocyanin antioxidants than a spoonful of blueberries and better yet, black rice offers more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants, but less sugar." The rice contains more vitamin B, niacin, vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc than white rice. Wow, a miracle food.

Reading all this pretty much convinced me it must be blah tasting. Tofu comes to mind. Usually anything that good for you is not as appealing as say, good ole comfort food. But I do have a curious nature and decided to try. What could it hurt? Besides, I did make a resolution to make better food choices.

You won't find this at Walmart or even most grocery stores. Health food stores or the Internet are your best bet. A friend picked up mine for me on her away trip from this tiny town (thanks Jules). Then it sat in my cupboard untouched. New Years day came along with the "clean slate-- try new things and the wish to improve food choices.” So out of the cupboard it came.

Dry, it slightly resembles rat poop. Cooked, it is a dead ringer for that disgusting dropping. I looked at it and was really feeling a thick blockage in my throat. I couldn't help but think this was some kind of sick joke.

Perhaps a clever soul had figured a way to actually package rat poop and tout it as a health food. Trying to convince my closed throat that this was not the case and not wanting to be wasteful, I decided that maybe doctoring it up would erase that image. I still hadn't tasted it.

So I chopped some scallions to add to the black pellets and the bright green did help somewhat. I also like fruit in most everything so I threw in some dried cranberries. Well the red hardly showed up in all the blackish purple. The computer suggested roasted sweet potatoes or mango additions but I had no mango and the rice was really losing its heat so RSP were out.

Looking around for more help I decided to add some sunflower seeds and I sauteed them quickly in olive oil to put on top of my growing dish. Finally, I drizzled just a tad of the warm olive oil over the concoction and sprinkled a little sea salt over the growing pile of food.

The kitchen sink was attached so I decided, this was all I was going to do. Pushing the rat poop image out of my mind, I took my first bite. Mercy, it was WONDERFUL. This has such a unique, nutty taste. It was something new and delightful to my happy taste buds.

I had made enough to use as a side dish for three meals but I ate all but a handful in one sitting. It became my whole meal. Meat was not even considered. I can only say that if you want to try something delightfully delicious and want to improve your health at the same time, try Forbidden Rice. This is so good, I would serve it to company that I wanted to impress.

One surprise benefit. Being full of fiber, it served two functions. It really "got things moving" the next day and oddly, I was full on a relatively small amount and remained full for the rest of the day.

Possibly a diet food?? Who knows. Anyway, if you can get past the rat poop image, give it a shot. Eat it plain or add your own goodies to it. It doesn't reheat well so I suggest only making what you intend to eat at one meal.

BON APPETIT