With all the food allergies you hear about in the news today, it’s good to know there’s one versatile food most people can still enjoy. Rice! Besides being gluten free, rice is filled with nutrients.
People around the world eat rice. In Thailand black glutinous rice is made into pudding for a popular snack or breakfast item. In many Asian countries, rice is consumed daily. In some cultures, traditional rice desserts are reserved for special ceremonies.
You may already be familiar with some traditional entrees that let you include rice in your diet. Here are 10 ways to have rice for dessert.
Puddings
The traditional rice pudding is a favorite comfort food. There are endless variations to this popular dessert. Add chocolate chips to make a chocolate rice pudding. Use a variety of instant puddings to mix with instant rice for a unique but simple dessert. Add dried or fresh fruit according to your individual taste.
Parfaits
You can impress your guests with a stylish parfait piled high with layers of rice, vanilla yogurt, mango and whipped cream. Use puddings and instant rice or change it up with custard and brown rice. If you don’t have a mango, use strawberries, blueberries or your choice of fresh fruit. Just don’t forget the rice.
Old Fashioned Rice
For generations, families have enjoyed warmed steamed rice topped with raisins, cinnamon, sugar and cream. It is mouth-watering yummy. Variations are limited only by your imagination. Try other spices and sauces for a new twist on a classic rice dessert. Substitute warm caramel sauce for the cream.
Rice Cereal Bars
You can’t overlook a long-time favorite. Rice cereal bars made with marshmallows and butter are a standard in many households. Variations with peanut butter, chocolate topping or butterscotch chips are a few other ways to use rice cereal as a dessert.
Cupcakes Filled with Rice Pudding
No kidding. This is a fun take on an old standby dessert. Use a cake mix to make cupcakes. When they’re cooled, spoon out a small portion of the cake and replace it with a complementing flavor of rice pudding. For example, make a pistachio cake with a pistachio rice pudding. Frost the cupcake and the rice pudding will be a creamy surprise!
Baked Peaches and Rice
Many excellent rice dishes can be quickly assembled and tucked into the oven just in time for dessert.
Baked peaches with rice, cinnamon, and brown sugar is one example. Frozen fruits hold up well in baked rice desserts.
Sticky Rice Balls
You don’t have to go all “gourmet cook” for hours to make sticky rice balls. A Japanese dessert called Ohagi takes less than 30 minutes to make. You need sticky rice, sugar, and beans to make these tasty treats. By the way, sticky rice recipes use gluten, so avoid if you are allergic to flour.
Sweet Risotto
If you haven’t considered risotto for dessert, you should. You cook risotto with rice as usual and blend in fruits and sugar. Risotto can be challenging. Once you have it mastered, making it into a dessert is the easy part.
Pineapple Rice
For this sweet dessert, substitute pineapple juice for water for boiling the rice. The texture and taste is unique and incredible. After the rice is cooked, added crushed pineapple, whipped cream, and sliced maraschino cherries. You can replace whipped cream with pudding and add other ingredients like sliced pecans or almonds.
Rice Breads
If you aren’t into over-the-top heavy desserts, but you’d like something sweet to complete your meal, bake sweet rice dessert bread. A wide array of recipes with ingredients ranging from applesauce to fresh coconut is readily available. Many are simple and quick, but they don’t sacrifice on flavor.
Coming up with rice recipes to use as desserts can be a good choice for your family. You can start with your favorite fruits added to rice. Once you get started, you can create your own rice dessert traditions.
