Speedy dinners have been the theme around my house lately. It has been hot, I have been tired and the kids have been busy. Enough said. I was running low on produce the other day, so I hit up the grocery store. While I was there, I walked past the deli and the smell of the rotisserie chicken drew me over faster than a bee to honey. I saw that they had my trusty Lemon-Herb Chicken and promptly deposited one in my cart. I wasn’t feeling fantastic and this would make dinner quick & painless.
I had a box of Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain White Rice (long grain version) in my pantry that I received to review from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program & Uncle Ben’s, so I thought that would make the perfect, simple accompaniment to the chicken. I normally prefer to cook brown or basmati rice, so this would be my first time using Uncle Ben’s.
The rice was very easy to make and took less than 15 minutes from start to finish. That is about a third of the time that it takes to cook my “normal” rice. The rice has a great taste to it! I was impressed, as I really like my brown rice. The nutritional stats aren’t bad, either with 170 calories, 4g fiber and 4g protein per serving. The ingredients are as follows:
WHOLE GRAIN WHITE RICE [PARTIALLY MILLED PARBOILED BROWN RICE, RICE BRAN AND GERM]; INULIN (CHICORY ROOT FIBER); GUAR GUM; NIACIN; IRON (FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE); THIAMINE (THIAMINE MONONITRATE); FOLATE (FOLIC ACID).
I am pretty sure that the reason for the additional ingredients is to add fiber and vitamins. When I buy my rice, it is simply “brown rice”. The inulin and guar gum may be an issue for those sensitive to those ingredients, but they are gluten-free. There are other varieties of the Whole Grain White Rice. I have not confirmed the gluten-free status of the other versions, though Mars (the parent company of Uncle Ben’s) is a company that will clearly label gluten on their packaging. Please exercise caution when choosing any of the other products. The gluten-free status of many Uncle Ben’s products can be viewed here.
Don’t forget to enter the Nature’s Path giveaway that ends on Monday night!
