WORKSHOP | Minute Rice Instant - an understated ingredient for creative, family-friendly meals

Using anything "instant" or "frozen" is pretty much the biggest faux pas in the culinary world where fresh is always better and while we agree, we can't always follow that rule when we are so busy with our everyday jobs.

Luckily for us, Chef John Higgins, Director of the George Brown Chef School showed us how to elevate Minute Rice to the next level to create some pretty fantastic dishes (dessert included!)

A lot of people believe instant rice is not nutritious as long cook rice, however the only difference is that instant rice is just pre-cooked, then dried to decrease the amount of time it takes to cook. Sounds like a win win situation to us, the same nutritional value in a fraction of the time!

The great thing about rice is that its so versatile, you can use it in main courses, desserts, appetizers and there are so many different ways to cook it! One way to change how you cook the rice is adding different flavours. You can cook the rice with coconut cream for a rich aromatic taste or even use tea or citrus to play around with the flavours. The possibilities really are endless!

With rice as it's only ingredient, Minute Rice is 100% natural and available in White Rice or Brown Rice. We both preferred the texture of the White Rice as it tasted smoother while the Brown Rice had a nuttier taste to it.

If you think plain rice is the only way you can prepare rice think again! Chef John Higgins showed us how easy it was to make a rice lasagna (pictured above) that makes for an easy lunch or dinner and will certainly impress at a dinner party! The rice simply replaces the lasagna noodles and gives it a completely different texture! 

Here are the top 10 Rice cooking tips from Chef John Higgins! 

1.  Boil in broth - try chicken or beef broth or vegetable stock 

2. Try coconut milk 

3.Think flavour and try new spices

4. Season early on

5. Add veggies 

6. Sweeten with fruit - add them to the cooking water to draw out the flavours

7. Try it for breakfast- add almond or soy milk to make an oatmeal like breakfast 

8. Steep your rice with tea

9. Add zing with zest - by adding zest as the water is boiling

10. Cut cooking time with a risotto 

Look how perfectly portioned and delicious the veggie rice lasagna looks! 

All the food bloggers working hard to prepare the rice pudding dessert. 

The finished product  - Pear and Cranberry Rice Pudding with Chocolate Crunchies

Store your dessert in mason jars to give away to your guests or just for easy presentation with easy clean up! Not to mention the cuteness factor.

After this workshop and learning more about how versatile instant rice can be, we're very excited to try other Minute Rice recipes like the One Pan Taco Dinner and Wheat Free Rice Crust Pizza! 

Click here for a $1.00 coupon off your next box of Minute Rice! Also check out their website for more recipes!