Brown Rice Pudding

Hmmmm...What to do with left over rice? I know! Rice pudding! I grew up eating baked rice pudding, and have made baked rice pudding with brown rice and flavored with lemon zest and raisins, but I wanted something different. This recipe is adapted from one by Alton Brown. He called for whole milk,golden raisins and pistachios, but I didn't have any of these things, so I rolled with what I had. I think my version must be lower in calories because of the use of lower fat dairy and the absence of raisins, but it's still mighty tasty. It's flavored with ground cardamom and coconut milk. What you see pictured above is my breakfast this morning. I think any dessert that boasts whole grains, milk and fruit can qualify for breakfast. Those blueberries are from my organic farm box and they are super yummy!

Brown Rice Pudding

1 Cup cooked brown basmati rice

1 Cup non-fat milk

1/2 Cup half and half

3/4 Cup coconut milk

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

Pinch of salt

1/4 Cup toasted sliced almonds

Place the rice and milk in a large saute pan and bring to a bubbly simmer. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes to slightly thicken. Add the half and half, coconut milk, sugar, cardamom and salt and simmer, stirring constantly until mixture reaches desired thickness - about 10 minutes. Add almonds and remove from heat. Serve warm or cool with fruit and a few more almonds sprinkled on top.

Serves 4 as a dessert at 275 calories per serving

or

Serves 3 for breakfast at 368 calories per serving