Should Coloured Rice Be On Your Shopping List?

As you girls already know, I love foods that LOOK good and are good for me. This is probably why I was recently asked about coloured rice varieties! A few girls wanted to know if it is worth while buying them? Let me give you a few pointers on what makes each one a little bit different: 

Red rice

The gorgeous red colour is actually natural! The colour comes from an antioxidant known as anthocyanin, which can also be found in some red fruits and vegetables (like cherries and red cabbage). Anthocyanin has strong anti-inflammatory properties, which can help protect against symptoms of inflammation, like joint pain or fatigue. Red rice also has magnesium, which may help to reduce muscle cramping. 

Because of its beautiful colour and earthy flavour, red rice is amazing with Thai dishes. It’s also great for an antioxidant boost, red rice has up to TEN times the antioxidants of brown rice. 

Green rice
Green smoothies are good for us, so the same must apply to rice, right? Well, kind of! Green rice is actually brown rice that has been infused with either bamboo juice or chlorophyll to get that deep green colour. Because it retains many of the same properties as brown rice, it is a good source of fibre, while also providing a taste similar to green tea. 

Green rice adds real vibrancy to your sushi rolls! But you can pretty much use green rice anywhere you’d normally use brown rice. 

Black rice 

You might have heard this referred to as ‘purple’ rice — that’s because it changes colour slightly when it’s cooked. Black rice is a different variety to both white and brown rice. It’s loaded with antioxidants and is high-protein, with an average of 9.1 grams of protein per 100g of rice (compared with white rice, which has 6.3 grams of protein per 100g of rice). 

Black rice has a rich, slightly sweet and nutty flavour which is amazing, but it can take longer to cook. If you can be patient enough to prepare black rice, you’ll be rewarded with a high-fibre, phosphorus-rich meal. Try using black rice in your salads, the colours look fantastic!

Okay, now you know a little more about each rice variety. But I’m pretty sure you’re going to ask “which is better?”. This depends on a number of factors, one of them personal preference. Red and green rice offer lots of nutritional benefits, but may be more expensive or harder to find in shops. Black rice seems to be a little easier to find (although this may vary), and it looks amazing in all kinds of dishes!

One thing I want to stress is you don’t HAVE to use coloured rice if it doesn’t work for you. Brown rice is still a great choice in terms of fibre and protein, and it is usually quite cheap to buy. 

Have any of you girls tried coloured rice? What did you think?

Love, Kayla xx