This White Rice is Right Nice - RiceSelect Jasmati

Meal planning is a big part of our family eating well and organically on a budget so Wednesday is always Rice and Veggie Night. 

That’s not as boring as it sounds. Really! Take a peek:

Say it with me:  Yummmmmmmmmmmm...

Both rice and veggies are inexpensive, versatile and healthy. We mix it up each week by creating different rice and veggies dishes, depending on our mood and what's in season. Stir-fry combos, steamed or raw seasonal veggies, different kinds of rice and quinoa (I know, NOT a rice but we allow it to sneak into rice and veggie night anyway) and savory spices, plus a protein - like grilled chicken or artisan sausage from our local market - when the budget allows. No rice and veggie meal is ever the same, which is a simple boredom buster when it come to the drudgery of meal planning.

Since we are fans of buying in bulk in order to get the best price, we usually get our rice from Costco since they offer such great deals on organics and healthy stuff we like to eat. Our fave is RiceSelect Organic Texmati Brown. (Yes, this was our first choice for rice even before I started doing food reviews for Mambo Sprouts and RiceSelect.) Truth be told, I haven’t had white rice in years; I prefer the brown kind for a wide variety of reasons. My past experience with white rice is that it’s sticky, tasteless and gloppy and feels like I just ate glue. I usually stay away from the stuff.

So, when RiceSelect sent me their Jasmati (long grain American jasmine) WHITE rice to review my heart sank. But here I was with a new product to try so I bit the (white) bullet and gave it a go. Although RiceSelect thoughtfully included some lovely recipes, we decided to go the purist route so we could really taste the rice. I cooked it simply and paired with some steamed seasonal veggies:  

I’m pleased to report that my family’s opinion is that RiceSelect is fluffy, flavorful and, according to my 5-year daughter, YUMMY.  A pleasant surprise...  Also, it was so darned EASY to cook.  2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice, let boil, turn down to simmer, done in 20 minutes. Nice! (Simple truth: Easy, uncomplicated cooking makes for a happy mama.)

My trick to add flavor to any rice or quinoa dish is to add a bit of homemade chicken or veggie stock (or low-sodium, canned broth or stock) to kick up the flavors a notch. Add to suit your taste but we’ve been known to cook entire batches with stock or liquid instead of water. This adds an extra layer of deliciousness to an already flavorful grain.


Here's another thing about RiceSelect: It not only makes your tummy feel good but chances are your spirit too. From September to November the Texmati rice jars will sport pink lids and labels to help support the Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation. During this time, RiceSelect will donate $50,000 to support the foundation’s work to cure breast cancer. Nice, right?


And, I LOVE this, RiceSelect supports sustainable agriculture by developing high yielding rice varieties that require less pesticides, fungicides and water resources.  Plus, RiceSelect’s production facilities operate pollution free and use only minimal processes to mill and package their goods. And finally, all of RiceSelect's  PET jars are re-usable and recyclable and BPA free. BPA FREE! Why can't more food companies get on this bandwagon?

The net/net is that I may start eating white rice again. We were pleasantly surprised and will consider buying RiceSelect’s Jasmati Rice in the future. 

Organically yours,

Minde