Capital Grains - exotic flavors - grain mixes - Brief Article - Recipe

Nutrition Action Healthletter, Sept, 1999 by Wendy Meltzer, Jayne Hurley

Every night it's the same what to make along your chicken and broccoli? If your entire side-dish repertoire consists of white rice, noodles, and potatoes, you may be pushing your cart through the rice-and-grains aisle too quickly. Uncle Ben and Rice-A-Roni now share shelf space with a whole new world of mixes.

And what a world--healthy ingredients like black beans and lentils, bulgur and brown rice, dressed up to supply authentic flavors from Texas and Louisiana to the Caribbean and India. Most cook up in less than 30 minutes and don't even need the tablespoon or so of oil, margarine, or butter that the box may ask for.

But exotic flavors (not to mention everyday ones) can come with a price. If you're not careful, that cup of Knorr's Mushroom Italian Rices Risotto, Rice-A-Roni Fried Rice, or Whatever can use up half your day's sodium quota.

Solution 1. Cook your grains from scratch. It'll save you a bundle and you can load up on vegetables and cut the salt. (For recipes, see p. 12.)

Solution 2. Take this little guide to the store with you. We've checked out every brand from Arrowhead Mills to Zatarain's. Our goal: to find the mixes with the most flavor and fiber and the least sodium.

Our Best Bites manage to squeeze at least four grams of fiber into every cup while keeping the sodium down to 480 milligrams or less. That much fiber means whole grains or rice plus beans or lentils. And that means extra vitamins and minerals and phytochemicals that may cut the risk of cancer and heart disease.

We gave Honorable Mentions to mixes with less than four grams of fiber, as long as they kept the sodium to no more than 480 mg. In a category dominated for generations by salty Rice-A-Roni, that's some feat.

Best of the Best

Fantastic (formerly Fantastic Foods) lives up to its name with its sweet and spicy Jamaican Rice and Beans. Plumped up chunks of dehydrated pineapple and tamarind add a tangy sweetness to the brown rice and black beans. And thanks to the blend of onions, garlic, and jalapeno peppers, you won't miss the sodium.

Chef Mark Miller of the Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe uses an interesting mix of chilies and cilantro to perk up the Texmati rice and black beans in Rice Select Chef's Originals Smokey Cowboy Beans and Rice. (You can safely disregard the "Hot" symbol on the package. We felt only a simmer.)

Lipton surprised us with its flavorful Cajun Style with Beans, Rice & Sauce. Though we followed the "less fat" directions (translation: no margarine), we still ended up with a wonderful mildly spicy dish.

On the lentil front, Lundberg's three One-Step Brown Rice and Lentil mixes (Chili, Curry, and Garlic Basil) take nearly an hour to cook, but they're worth the wait. Each combines brown rice and fiber-packed lentils with a rich-tasting spice blend. The Curry is mild and a little on the sweet side, the Garlic Basil is reminiscent of pesto sauce, and the Chili might be perfect for those who like just a hint of the hot stuff.

Gourmet Guru's Indian Lentil Pilaf was a bit bland, as was Casbah's Wheat Pilaf (the only Best Bite made of bulgur), but both might work well with a spicy stir-fry.

We didn't try Arrowhead Mills Wild Rice & Herbs and Vegetable Herb Quick Brown Rice.

MYOB

Ten Best Bites aren't many, especially when some mean a trip to the health food store. What to do? Turn to saltier mixes that have at least four grams of fiber in each cup. As long as the entire box has no more than 960 mg of sodium and the seasoning comes in a separate pouch--Goya, Zatarain's, Lipton Rice & Sauce, and a handful of other mixes don't--you can MYOB (Make Your Own Best Bite) by using only half the spices.

Most of the MYOBs we tried tasted plenty flavorful with half their seasoning, especially Near East's Creative Grains line, which includes delightful combinations of barley, brown rice, bulgur, and pearled (refined) wheat. The Roasted Pecan & Garlic, the Roasted Garlic, and the Chicken & Herbs didn't miss a beat when we cut the spice packet in half (using three-quarters of the packet would still have made a Best Bite out of either of the Garlic flavors).

Other MYOB stars included Lundberg's entire line of organic Quick Brown Rice. Three of the four flavors deliver five grams of fiber, and all are ready in under 20 minutes--warp speed for brown rice. And while Near East's Barley Pilaf, Lentil Pilaf, and Wheat Pilaf also lacked oomph, any of them would make an excellent partner for a spicy curry dish.

Even Uncle Ben made a respectable showing with two flavors from his Chef's Recipe line. His Traditional Red Beans & Rice won raves with its pleasantly smoky flavor. A plus: the beans were firm and plentiful. And though his Caribbean Black Beans & Rice tasted fine, we couldn't find anything "Caribbean" in it.

Fantastic's New Orleans Rice and Beans didn't register many "oohs" and "aahs" either, though it did have an intensely smoky taste.

We didn't try Near East Mediterranean Black (or Red) Beans & Rice Pilaf, Success Red Beans and Rice, or Uncle Ben's Chef's Recipe Spicy Cajun Beans & Rice.