Today's kitchen experiment: homemade rice milk

Does a slice of chocolate cake or fresh baked cookies make you reach for a cold glass of milk?

Not me - I'm not a dairy girl. For me, milk is a vehicle for cereal and a necessary ingredient to get a smoothie moving along in the blender. It's for cooling down hot chocolate and making overnight oats. But to drink it by the glass? No thanks.

I've been using alternative milk for a few years (soy, almond, coconut, whatever). Recently, I stumbled over a recipe for homemade rice milk. I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's the recipe:

Throw into a blender -

1 cup cooked rice

4 cups cold water

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Blend. Chill.

Makes 5 cups

What I did:

I rinsed 1/3 cup of basmati rice (the only rice I had in the pantry) and then added it to my rice cooker with 1 cup of water. Once the rice was cooked, I threw it all in the blender with the other stuff. And I did actually measure everything, since this was an experiment and all. When I saw how full the blender was, I opted to split it into batches and poured 1/2 of it back out. I'm glad I did. Next time, I may even blend it in 3 batches. You have to blend for awhile. I set it on high and let it go. Then I poured the mixture through a fine strainer into a washed and labeled empty milk jug. Homemade rice milk can last 4-5 days in the fridge so it's best not to make more than you will use in a short time.

(You can also use brown rice -- just know the finished product will be off-white in color.)

Pros:

• super easy
• pretty quick (minus the rice cook-time, it took about 5 minutes)
• ridiculously cheap (like less than $0.50 per 1/2 gallon, I'm guessing)

Cons:

• needs to be shaken well every time you use it
• nutritionally unimpressive, even if you opt to make it with brown rice

Here's the breakdown:

Homemade Rice Milk serving size, 1 cup	using white rice	using  brown rice
calories	43	46
carbohydrates	9.6 g	9.5 g
protein	.8 g	1 g
fat	0 g	.4 g
fiber	.1 g	.4 g
cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
calcium	<1 mg	4 mg
potassium	10 mg	30 mg
Other vitamins	almost none	almost none

And just for grins and giggles:

Comparing other milks serving size, 1 cup	Skim dairy milk	2% dairy milk	Silk Light vanilla soy milk	Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk
calories	80	120	70	30
carbohydrates	13 g	11 g	7	1
protein	8 g	9 g	6	1
fat	0 g	5 g	1.5 g	2.5
fiber	0 g	0 g	0 g	1
cholesterol	5 mg	20 mg	0 g	0
calcium	300 mg	300 mg	450 mg	450 mg
potassium	410 mg	342 mg	340 mg	170 mg
Other vitamins	A-10%, D-25%	A-10%, D-25%	A-10%, D-30%, B12-50%	A-10%, D-25%, E-50%

(US RDA: calcium - at least 1000 mg, and potassium - at least 4500 mg, for most populations) 

What I thought:

It's not bad. It tastes like what you'd think - a light rice-ish flavor. It had a nice white milk-like color but is definitely thin. For me, the vanilla isn't optional. It only needs a few drops but it does make a difference. Some might even want a little stevia or some other sweetener, but I didn't think it was necessary. I wouldn't drink this by the glass, but again, I don't drink milk by the glass. It's great for smoothies or protein shakes, as it has slightly more body than water, if that makes sense. And over cereal, it's just fine.

I may play with this some more. It's thin and a little too watery for me. A starchier rice may yield a creamier consistency and I regret rinsing my rice. Though usually a good idea, in this case, more starch might be better. I've also seen recipes which call for the addition of 1 tbsp sunflower oil which would make a creamier, richer milk. And if I could just figure out how to fortify it...

I'm not yet convinced I'll be making homemade rice milk on a regular basis. The lack of overall nutrition makes it less appealing; though it could mean one less plastic-coated cardboard carton in the landfill every week, so we'll see. 

Recipe: Cheesy Quinoa Spinach Bake

This super simple dish paired with a green or fruit salad is a satisfying vegan or vegetarian dinner. It reminds me of mac and cheese yet without all the carbs, less fat, and a boost of protein from the quinoa. My favorite part is the crispy edge!

What you'll need:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp garlic infused or regular olive oil
2 Tbsp finely grated onion
1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard
2 cups loosely packed fresh baby spinach, rough chopped
1/2 cup non-sweetened, non-dairy substitute or milk
2 tsp flax seed mixed with 4 tsp water OR 1 egg
1 tsp Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute or salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 cup veggie shreds or shredded cheese

What you'll do:

Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Add quinoa, cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for about 12 minutes. Remove from heat leave quinoa covered for 15 minutes or so until all the water is absorbed. Measure the remaining ingredients into a large bowl and add quinoa. Stir to combine. Transfer everything to an 8x8 (or equivalent) baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until golden and bubbly. Top with additional 'cheese' if desired.

Baked Vegetarian Tacos for a crowd...

perfect for a weekend lunch or easy weeknight dinner.

But before I go any further, I just want to mention - I feel a little silly posting a recipe for tacos. It feels kinda like posting a recipe for a bowl of cereal. I mean, it's a taco. Fill it. Eat it. It's not hard. But if you're like me, it isn't really about the recipe. It's about getting ideas and trying new methods. So this embarrassingly easy "recipe" is just that. Maybe you are new to vegetarianism, or are trying to eat less meat for health reasons, or lent, or still learning your way around the kitchen. Whatever it is, my hope is that silly, simple recipes like this might become one of your new family faves or maybe inspire new ideas and methods and recipes of your own.

So, back to the baked tacos...

We have a thing for southwest flavors at our house and tacos are always a hit. This is a vegetarian version - actually vegan - but I have included more mainstream substitutions as well.

My honey was reaching for his second one when he realized I was eating a taco from the same pan, and asked, "Isn't there meat in these?" When those words come from a meat lover, I take it as a compliment that he didn't miss it.

What you'll need:

18 (or so) taco shells 

4 veggie burgers (or 1 pound ground beef, chicken, or turkey, fully cooked, and drained)

1 can vegetarian refried beans

1 cup tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups veggie chop (1/2 onion, 1/4 yellow pepper, 1/4 red pepper, 1/2 zucchini, 1 tomato, handful baby spinach leaves, all chopped)

1 Tbsp (or more) taco seasoning, recipe below or the packaged variety

8 oz (or more) cheddar flavor veggie shreds (or cheddar cheese)

Toppings:

chopped lettuce, avocado, salsa

Taco Seasoning:

1/4 cup chili powder

1 Tbsp dried onion flakes

1 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin

2 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp Chipotle Mrs Dash

1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

Stir it all together and store in mason jar or other air tight container. Double or triple as needed.

What you'll do:

Thaw the veggie burgers in the microwave and then crumble them into a large bowl. Add the refried beans, tomato sauce, chopped veggies, and taco seasoning. I used Lightlife brand black bean veggie burgers, which have a nice southwest flavor already, so I only added 1 Tbsp of taco seasoning. If you are using plain veggie burgers, ground meat or poultry, or just like more seasoning, add more. Gently mix it together. Fill taco shells about 1/2 - 2/3 full with mixture and set shells upright in baking dish. I used pretty large taco shells and filled 18 of them generously. Using smaller shells, you could possibly get 20 or more. Adding some corn, black beans, or extra veggies can make your filling go farther, if needed. Top each one with a tablespoon or so of veggie shreds (or shredded cheese) and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until shells start to brown and mixture is hot and bubbly. Add toppings. And enjoy.