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Whenever we cook rice we usually cook up double the amount we need, and freeze the rest. We use this rice in a few different ways. Usually it’s to make some sort of fried rice dish, because cooked and cooled rice really is the only type of rice to use if you want to make a decent fried rice. (It retains its texture and doesn’t go mushy like freshly cooked rice.) Cooked and cooled rice is also ideal for making hearty rice salads like this Asian-style rice salad.

We actually invented this rice salad just a couple of days ago. We both felt like a quick and satisfying lunch with Asian flavors, and we happened to have some leftover rice just sitting in the fridge. We couldn’t be bothered cooking, so we scoured our fridge and pantry for suitable ingredients to make an Asian-inspired rice salad.

One thing we didn’t have to worry about was seasonings (we’re always stocked up with Asian seasonings). But we hadn’t done a grocery shop for a few days, so we weren’t sure if we’d have a good range of fresh ingredients on hand.

Luckily we did have some ideal produce for Asian cooking: celery, red pepper, carrot, scallions, and a big knob of ginger root. All we needed was some sort of protein to balance out the flavors and improve the nutritional content. We chose one of our pantry staples — canned tuna — to fill that gap (cold shrimp, cold shredded chicken, or cashew nuts would have also worked well).

It only took us about five minutes to prepare the ingredients, which simply involved dicing the red pepper and celery, slicing the scallions and grating the carrot and ginger. Then we mixed those ingredients with the rice and tuna, and added a combination of seasonings we know work really well together — soy sauce, oyster sauce and toasted sesame oil.

The finished salad tasted surprisingly good, and really satisfied our craving for Asian flavors. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it too!

Asian-style Rice Salad

Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side dish

2 1/2 tablespoons Chinese soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups cooked cold long-grain rice (leftover rice is ideal)
1 carrot — grated
1/2 stick celery — finely chopped
1/2 red pepper — deseeded and diced
1 scallion — finely sliced on the diagonal
6 oz (180g) canned tuna in oil — drained and flaked

MIX together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger and pepper in a small bowl. MIX together the rice, carrot, celery, red pepper, scallion and tuna in another bowl. TOSS the dressing with the rice mixture until well combined.

I eat a lot of whole grains. For breakfast, I regularly have whole grain cereal such as oatmeal, muesli or bran flakes; or toasted whole grain bread with toppings (such as natural peanut butter, sliced cheese and tomato, or baked beans). A typical weekday lunch is a sandwich, stuffed pita, or wrap made with whole grain breads. When we make pizza at home, we’ll often use a large whole wheat pita as the crust. I also love bulgur (made from whole wheat) topped with stew, or in tabbouleh salad. And if I feel like a snack, I’ll often have some air-popped popcorn (popcorn is a whole grain) or a whole grain cracker.

But I’m certainly not a fan of all whole grain foods. I’ve tried brown rice several times, in several different ways, and each time I was thoroughly disappointed — not only with the flavor, but also with the texture. In comparison, white rice is light in texture and subtle in flavor. It embraces the flavors of the foods it’s paired with, whereas I find that brown rice does just the opposite and tends to overpower the taste of other food.

So I basically gave up on brown rice a long time ago. And I’m not the only one. White rice has been far more popular than brown rice throughout Asia and the Mediterranean for many generations. And no wonder — I couldn’t imagine sitting down to plateful of brown rice sushi, or eating brown rice paella or risotto either!

But what about all those naysayers who tell you that white rice is fattening and unhealthy? What a load of nonsense. The leanest, healthiest and longest-living peoples in the world eat white rice regularly. This makes it obvious that white rice is far from a dietary villain.

Indeed, research has found that for the last 30 years rice consumption in Japan has dropped by over 50 percent. (This is because many Japanese, particularly the younger generation, are embracing a Western-style diet.) Over the same period, guess what’s happened? Obesity rates have climbed steadily.

Now I’m not saying that the answer to a leaner healthier body is to rush out and grab a large sackful of white rice. But what I’m saying is that white rice, in all it’s wonderful varieties (including Italian arborio, Indian basmati, Thai jasmine, Spanish calasparra, Japanese koshihikari), can fit perfectly into a varied and balanced diet.

The key is to eat rice like people from Mediterranean and Asian cultures do: in moderate portions (yes, calories do count), and mixed with slowly-digesting foods like fish, beans, poultry, plant oils, and vegetables. This not only makes the rice taste a whole lot better, it also means that it’s digested at a slow and steady rate — so you won’t get blood sugar swings and rebound hunger.

The following risotto recipe — which contains a mix of arborio rice, chickpeas, vegetables and extra virgin olive oil — is a good example of what I mean.

Roasted Garlic, Pumpkin & Red Pepper Risotto with Spinach & Chickpeas

Serves 2 to 3

• 2 cups peeled and cubed pumpkin or winter squash (cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
• 1 red pepper — deseeded and cut into quarters
• 6 cloves garlic — left unpeeled
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 onion — finely chopped
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 10 kalamata olives — pitted and quartered
• 2 packed cups roughly chopped fresh spinach
• 1 cup canned chickpeas — rinsed well and drained
• 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

PREHEAT an oven to 450F/230C. PLACE the pumpkin, red pepper and garlic cloves in a baking dish and toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the balsamic vinegar and rosemary until well coated. BAKE for 20 minutes. WHILE the vegetables cook, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADD the rice, stir to coat the grains in oil and cook for 1 minute. ADD the wine, stock, salt, black pepper, olives and spinach, stir to combine and bring to a boil. COVER with a lid, reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes without lifting the lid. REMOVE the red pepper and garlic from the baking dish. ADD the chickpeas to the baking dish with the pumpkin and return to the oven for 5 minutes. ROUGHLY chop the peppers. SQUEEZE the garlic pulp from the skins and stir into the risotto with the parmesan, lemon juice and remaining tablespoon of oil. STIR in the red pepper, pumpkin and chickpeas to combine.

I was in charge of making saffron rice to accompany the Indian fish curry we had for dinner the other night (if you look closely you’ll see it in the top right-hand corner of the photo). As it was cooking, the aroma of the saffron-infused basmati rice drifted through the kitchen and mingled with the fragrant cooking smells of the curry. What a harmony of smells that was!

We don’t always have saffron rice with our Indian curries; usually it’s just plain basmati rice — which is still beautiful. But occasionally it’s nice to jazz things up a bit, and also add a bit of color to the table.

Saffron is the pungent dried stigmas of the crocus sativus plant, and it’s the world’s most expensive spice by weight. Thankfully, you don’t need to use much to impart a wonderful flavor, vibrant color and delicate aroma to dishes such as paella, bouillabaisse, and of course saffron rice.

As usual we like to take the simple approach, and our version of saffron rice uses the bare minimum of ingredients but it still has maximum flavor and, thanks to the saffron, that perfect bright yellow color.

Simple Saffron Rice

Serves 2 as a side dish

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup basmati rice (rinsed in cold water, then drained)

BRING the water to a boil in a medium saucepan and stir in the saffron threads, butter and salt. ADD the rice and bring to the boil, cover, then reduce the heat to very low. SIMMER gently for 15 minutes without lifting the lid.

Here are some dishes that are an ideal match with saffron rice:

Fish, Spinach & Tomato Curry
South Indian Shrimp Curry
Lentil, Pea & Potato Curry
Dhal with Carrot & Cauliflower

Rice is one of my favorite foods. True, no kidding! It is simple to cook, it can be cooked in a variety of ways and despite its rather plain taste, has a nice texture and goes well with pretty much all kinds of food.

I must confess I don’t know the origin of this recipe, when I was a kid my grandmother used to cook it very often and I learned from her. This Soufflé is very light in calories, delicious and can be served as a side dish (or “contorno”, as they call it here in Italy), or can be topped with all kinds of sauces or garnished with roasted vegetables. You name it.

The Soufflé

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• About 50ml of olive oil
• 2 cups of uncooked rice
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Two eggs
• Salt
• Bread crumbs

Directions

Cook the rice in salty water and then let it reach room temperature before you proceed. You can also use leftover rice, if you have it already.

Chop the onion very finely with the food processor. Put the olive oil to heat in pan on a low flame and lightly fry the minced garlic and the onion. Whey they start to become golden in color turn off the flame and add the rice. Mix it well and add the eggs and mix again adding the flour.

Grease an oven tray with a thin layer of oil and cover it with a thin layer of bread crumbs. Add the Soufflé mix and cover with a thin layer of bread crumbs.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at about 180°C (356°F) until it’s golden in color.

The sauce

You are free to use any sauce you like but in my opinion a red sauce would probably go better than a Bechamel. You can also have it plain, with no sauce at all, which I love.

This time, I wanted to do a vegetarian Bolognese sauce. This is the recipe for the one in the picture.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups of TSP/TVP (Textured Soy Protein)
• Soy Sauce
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Water
• Plain tomato sauce

Directions

I usually like to add vinegar and and soy sauce instead of using plain water to rehydrate TSP. Put the TSP in a small pan with a little vinegar, soy sauce and some drops of water and put it on a low flame for about a minute. Add water as needed so the TSP rehydrates but doesn’t soak.

After the TSP is ready, add the tomato sauce and keep mixing on low flame until hot. Serve on top of individual servings.

Now, a confession. I always make more than I’m going to eat because I have a craving for eating this Soufflé plain and at room temperature hours later. A must try!

I started the New Year with an evil flu that drained me of energy, appetite and enthusiasm for pretty much everything, including food. Unable to stomach much of anything, I was uninspired until I remembered the ultimate Asian comfort food…rice congee.

Also known as rice gruel, jook, mueh, or xifan, it is all basically the same watery rice porridge, served plain with various meats and pickles on the side or with different flavors, condiments and ingredients mixed in. Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Korean, and Russian cuisines all have their own versions. In my own Taiwanese American family, it was (and is) a common breakfast food or light meal.

Congee is so simple to make that it was one of the first foods my mom allowed me to cook on my own as a child. It is a dish almost impossible to mess up.

Method 1: Add cooked rice to a larger amount of water or broth, and simmer until the liquid is reduced and the rice is soft and the consistency of oatmeal. This is a great way to use up leftover rice, and was my mother’s usual method when I was growing up because in our household, we almost always had leftover rice.

Method 2: If you don’t have any cooked rice handy, start with uncooked rice and an even larger quantity of liquid such as 6-8 cups of water or broth to 1 cup of rice, You can vary this ratio according to your own preference and what works for you…when I consulted a friend who also comes from a Taiwanese family, she unhesitatingly recited her mother’s formula: “10 to 1!”

A third method is to simply use your electric rice cooker…a lot of rice cookers these days have a congee/porridge setting built right in!

Inspired by the “cháo” I like to order from a local Vietnamese restaurant, I decided to make a gingery chicken congee to battle my cold. It truly was the perfect food to heal both mind and body.

Easy Ginger Chicken Rice Porridge (6-8 servings)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1-2 tablespoons minced ginger root (adjust to taste)
• 1 cup shredded, cooked chicken (I poached mine)
• Chopped scallions or other herbs for garnish

Directions:

Add cooked rice to 4 cups of chicken broth, along with the minced ginger root. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the liquid is reduced and the rice is soft and about the consistency of oatmeal. (There should still be some liquid covering the rice, but just a little.) Mix in the cooked, shredded chicken and chopped scallions and serve hot.

Basic Rice Porridge (6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked short grain white rice
• 6-8 cups water or broth (though my friend insists on 10 cups)

Directions:

Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Drain water. Add the six cups of water to the rice, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot.

(Option: Add uncooked pieces of sweet potato during the cooking process to make sweet potato rice)

Enjoy, and stay healthy!