Remixed Coconut Rice Pudding

March is National Nutrition Month, so in honor of that, the USA Rice Federation is challenging Recipe ReDux members to come up with nutritious + delicious recipes that feature U.S.-grown rice! :] Look for the “Grown in the USA Rice” logo on packages for 100% domestically grown rice at your local grocery store!

I have a couple friends who have celiac disease at med school, so by default, I would tend to try to make gluten-free recipes for any food fundraisers that I/any of the clubs at our school organized. So what happens when I want to make a super easy, potluck-friendly, gluten-free recipe? Rice to the rescue! <3

Since I’m Asian (hah…but seriously, this is what I grew up on), rice has pretty much always been a staple in my household, and I’ve used it in the past to make sushi, pineapple fried rice, and rice balls & onigiri (and a billion others). it goes well with virtually everything, and fits in rather well with my almost-nonexistent student budget.

• Rice is naturally sodium-, cholesterol-, trans fat- and gluten-free, so it’s a great option if you want to “bulk up” a recipe to make it more filling! Sometimes, I’ll add it to soup if I feel like I won’t be full on just the soup alone!
• Whole grains (e.g. brown rice!) has also been shown to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers).

Check out the USA Rice Federation! They’re also on Facebook and Twitter!

The inspiration for this recipe came from my Valentine’s Day weekend, where I trekked back to West Virginia to hang out with my friend at Please Save A Cat. Our original plan had been to get sushi for dinner, but we were essentially snowed in by an impromptu blizzard.

My friend had mentioned a Puerto Rican rice pudding that she’d had before, so after we finished taking care of the cats, we decided to see if we could recreate and healthify it, since it wasn’t like we could get out anyway! :P

We hate to waste anything, and happened to have 3 overripe bananas hanging out on the counter, so we decided to use that as a natural sweetener for the pudding! :] It helps to add to the creamy texture!

Fruit makes my world go round, and went so, so well with the pudding! <3

This is about as healthy as you can make a pudding, and nothing was sacrificed in terms of taste! :] My friend said this is the best thing I’ve come up with thus far, and that she’d gladly start eating breakfast if she could have this every morning. She doesn’t usually default to healthified recipes, so I consider this a very high compliment! :]

By posting this recipe, I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by USA Rice Federation and am eligible to win  prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

Remixed Coconut Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

• 2 cups U.S.-grown brown rice
• 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 cup almond milk or water
• 3 overripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 apple, diced + sprinkled with cinnamon
• 1/2-1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4-1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• fresh blackberries & raspberries, for garnish
• 1 mango, sliced
• 1 kiwi, sliced
• unsweetened coconut flakes, for garnish
• drizzle of sweetened condensed milk (optional)

Instructions:

1. Combine coconut milk, water, almond milk (or water) and brown rice into rice cooker bowl*. Mix in mashed bananas, dried cranberries, and diced apple.
2. Add vanilla extract, cinnamon sticks, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Stir to combine.
3. Press start!
4. When rice is finished cooking, serve in a bowl and top with sliced mangoes, kiwis, berries, coconut flakes and pecans.
5. Drizzle with sweetened condensed milk, if desired.
6. *If you don’t have a rice cooker, don’t worry! Just add all the ingredients from #1 to a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Add all ingredients in #2, cover, turn heat to low, and let it simmer until the liquid has been absorbed (~45 min to 1 hour). Add an additional cup of almond milk or water, stir it around, add desired toppings and serve hot!

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