Have a rice day!

Billions of people eat rice every day. In fact, it’s a staple food for more than half the world’s population!¹

Why is rice so special?

Well, not only is it versatile enough to work in many tasty recipes—both savory and sweet—but it also has great nutritional benefits.

For example, long-grained white rice is high in protein, calcium, folate, and vitamin E. It’s also a great source of carbohydrates, which are your body’s main source of energy.

Here’s a rice pudding recipe you can try. It’s a popular Danish treat.²

Risalamande

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
• 2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Chopped almonds (optional)
• Cherry pie filling (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat for 15–20 minutes.
3. Mix 1 beaten egg with 1/2 cup milk. Add to rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, vanilla extract, and chopped almonds.
5. Serve pudding chilled, with warm pie filling on top if you want.

Notes

1. You can learn more about rice at Ricepedia.org, an entire database all about rice! Maybe a career in nutrition would be fun to explore.
2. From “Christmas around the World” in the December 2019 Friend.