Alicia's Soft Rice Porridge

Alicia's Soft Rice Porridge

I started thinking about eating a more plant-based diet earlier this year because of two things.

First, our friends Mike & Mary got interested in the subject and I was curious.

Second, I received Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet for Christmas and finally read it.

It made so much sense to me, and I asked David to read just one chapter from the book.

That led us into an entirely new way of thinking about nutrition, and we haven't looked back.

This recipe comes from Alicia's book. I haven't served this to the rest of the family because they're happy with their breakfasts, but it is a breakfast that I like and have made several times for myself, always a little differently.

I thought I'd better post it on the blog so I can always come back to it when I need a change in breakfast - I tend to get in a rut and need a change up.

We always have leftover cooked brown rice (or another grain) in the fridge, so this is a perfect use for it.

I'll tell you how I make it, then include Alicia's original recipe below.

You start by heating up a cup of leftover cooked rice and a cup of water in a saucepan.

Bring it to a boil, the cover and simmer it for 15 minutes.

The original recipe calls for 2 cups of water - it's waaaay too much for me.

I got with 1 cup and strain out a little before transferring to a bowl.

The original recipe also says to add your dried fruit to the saucepan with the rice and water, but I rarely remember to.  I usually just toss the chopped fruit on at the end.

I've used apricots, raisins, and dried mango in this dish.  All are great.

Then you place the dish in a bowl and add your toasted seeds and a chopped umeboshi plum.

The plum is obviously totally optional.  I love them, but not everyone does.

The original recipe calls for Toasted Sunflower Seeds.

I never toast them - just toss them on raw.  I'm sure they're even better toasted.

I've used raw walnuts, chopped raw almonds, and raw pumpkin seeds in this dish.  All good.

It's a filling breakfast, and I love the customizability (real word???) that allows me to use what I have on hand, or what sounds good that morning.

Enjoy!