Rice can have high levels of arsenic. The plant pulls it from the soil and stores it into the seeds, which we eat. I try to avoid heavy metals as much as possible, so I had avoided rice for a long time. I also avoided it because I don’t do well with most grains, higher carb intake, and to be honest, it’s boring and not really worth the headache.
Rob needs more carbohydrates in his diet than I do, so I’m always trying to find whole food options. I learned that certain types of rice are less problematic and where they are grown matters as to how much arsenic is in the soil. After all my research, the @lundberg brand and basmati rice was the best quality I could find.
But even then, I knew that it was still high in arsenic. My friends @thestrongsistas shared a recipe that lowers the levels of arsenic by 70, or more percent. I have altered their original recipe a smidge, and thought it was worth sharing.
Bring double the amount of rice to water to a boil. (2cups of rice, 8cups of water)
Add rice and continue to boil 5 min.
Strain and rinse rice and pot out.
Put rice and 1.5 cups of broth per cup of rice into the pot. (2 cups of rice, 3 cups of broth).
Bring to a boil, simmer for 15 minutes.
Turn off heat and let sit for 10 more minutes.
Basically, you are pre-boiling the arsenic out of the rice. The directions after the strain and rinse step are on the original package rice. It may be different based on the type of rice you’re cooking. You may need to follow directions on the package after the initial boil and rinse step.
Choosing rice that’s lower in arsenic is also a good idea. Basmati and Black (forbidden) rice are the lowest types. Choosing organic is always a better idea, but it will not determine the amount of arsenic in the rice. Arsenic is found in the soil from banned pesticides from the past. Unfortunately it hasn’t left the soil, and thus the rice pulls it up into the plant. Where the rice is grown is actually more of a determinant on arsenic levels than organic vs. non organic. I chose this brand because it was the best I could find in terms of being organic, availability, lower in arsenic, and also lower on the glycemic index.
The broth makes rice delicious and more nutritious than just cooked in water. I even use saved drippings from roasts, chicken meals, and ribs. If I don’t have enough, I’ll add some of my own broth to reach that 3 cups. I include all the fat as well.
If you’re like me and don’t tolerate a lot of carbohydrates well, cooking, cooling and reheating will lower the glycemic index of the rice. I learned this from @myfoodreligion, as well as others. I’m starting to freeze batches of rice when I have extra broths from meals to use, but don’t need rice at the time.