Good Carbs Don't Have to Be Boring

It's practically a cliché now, "good carbs, bad carbs" and many people are aware that processed carbohydrates are the bad guys while unprocessed carbs are the good guys. But once you have made the switch away from white rice for your grain-based foods, where to go besides brown rice?

Brown rice products are great, and easy to find in most grocery stores. But not everyone enjoys the flavor of brown rice and relying on it too much can be pretty boring.

In many grocery stores there is now a "natural foods" aisle where you can find bins full of a variety of mysterious, strangely named foods that come with little to no instructions. Not to worry - within those aisles you can find a few gems of the "good carb" variety that can liven up your meals and relieve you of your brown rice boredom.

The first new grain you might like to try is a South American native called quinoa. It is one of the lightest tasting whole grains, and is easy to incorporate into your normal cooking routine. The grains are small and round, cook up as quickly as white rice in about twenty minutes and can be used in just about anything - pilaf, hot cereal, baked goods, soups and cold salads. Quinoa is so mild in flavor it is quite unnoticeable as an ingredient in many dishes. Most common is the white variety, but you might also find the red, which adds a pleasing color to grain dishes. Quinoa should be rinsed before cooking.

The second grain to add to your recipe file is kamut. This ancient wheat relative is a larger mild-flavored grain that cooks up in about a half hour, and makes a tasty addition to pilaf. You can use it anywhere you would use rice, in savory or sweet dishes. It is also good to toss into a cold pasta salad, where it adds texture as well as fiber. Kamut is available rolled (similar to rolled oats) in some areas for cooking as a hot cereal.

Brown rice is a common whole grain that we turn to when seeking good carbs, but did you know there are other rices above and beyond brown? In many natural food stores you can find a blend of mahogany and black japonica. The flavor is excellent and when you add a little of this rice mixture to a pilaf, the mahogany color is a great bonus - it really livens up a boring plate, especially when sprinkled with fresh chives or parsley. When added to a grain blend for breakfast, these fun rice varieties create a kid-friendly bowl of purple hot cereal!

The best way to introduce these whole grains to your family is to go slowly - use them as a small portion of the dish you are cooking. For example you might replace a quarter cup of your rice with quinoa, adding it during the last twenty minutes. Or consider adding some to dishes like meatloaf or taco filling. Cooked grains can also be added to baked goods - a half-cup can be added to your dough or batter when making cookies or muffins. Storing individual portions of cooked grains in your refrigerator or freezer in Ziploc bags is a great way to encourage yourself to use these whole grains in creative ways - all you need to do is toss it into your dish, no need to hassle with cooking each time.

Switching to "good carbs" can be both flavorful and interesting, if you are willing to experiment a little!