How to Cook Brown Rice

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

There's one technique that I still see novice cooks and professionals struggle over: it's how to cook brown rice. The proportion of water to rice, how long to cook, whether to steam or cook over direct heat…these questions trip cooks up.

The extra layer of bran, which differentiates brown rice from the bran-less white rice, is what stymies cooks because it requires a little longer cooking time. My technique, which hasn't failed me in years and always produces perfectly fluffy grains, is easy to remember: one part rice to two parts water. Most use a 1:1 3/4 ratio, but that's hard to remember and leaves you no wiggle room when it comes to getting the heating right.

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Easy Stuffed Peppers

By Lori Powell

I was shopping yesterday for a food shoot and while in the produce aisle, I could not stop looking at the towering stacks of beautiful bell peppers of all colors. While bell peppers are a bit overused to add color to dishes in a saute, chili, stir-fry and such, I love to stuff them with an assortment of healthy ingredients.

When used whole, peppers are a perfect sweet vessel – yes, a little retro, but great to make for one or two all year round.
My easy take on the stuffing is to use the pre-cooked rice that you can buy now in all varieties in supermarkets from shelf-stable to the frozen organic kind. They are available in brown rice, wild rice mix, jasmine and white, to name a few. I especially like the frozen organic brown and jasmine varieties.

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