Healthy options are great.

…when they taste good.

…and when you know how to make them.

Brown rice can be one of those irritating I-know-I-should-eat-it-but… foods where you’ve tried it but it was either too gummy or too crunchy or took too long or too just not very good.

If you’re in the camp where you’ve written off brown rice as something people more granola than you can happily keep, can I suggest you give it one more try?

It is in fact healthier. Brown rice still has all the good nutrients in tact, whereas white rice has been stripped and often bleached to achieve that white color.

And it can be easy. Really easy.

5 minutes of prep. 1 hour in the oven. And that’s it. Perfect brown rice every time. You can thank me later.

This recipe is for a double batch. Because it just makes sense to go ahead and make twice as much to use for another meal later in the week. A quick lunch burrito bowl? A side with grilled salmon? A dish of fried rice?

And, many thanks to Cooks Illustrated for teaching me how easy brown rice can be. Where would I be in the kitchen without Cooks Illustrated?!

Perfect Baked Brown Rice

Ingredient List

• 4 2/3 C water
• 3 C brown rice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375°.

2. Spread the rice evenly in the bottom of a long glass Pyrex baking dish. Cut two pieces of foil large enough to cover the dish.

3. Bring the water, salt and oil to a boil in a covered saucepan. As soon as the water is at a rolling boil, pour the water over the rice in the Pyrex dish. Immediately cover with both sheets of foil.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

5. Remove the rice from the oven and let stand 5 minutes. Remove the foil and fluff with a fork.