Brown Rice vs White Rice: A Quiz

How about a quiz this morning?

I had some vague knowledge that brown rice was healthier than white rice, but never really knew much about the difference. Uncle Ben's sent me some of their brown rice to try and it got me thinking and wondering. Mr. Google helped me out and I wrote this quiz. The answers come from Wikipedia.

Q: What is rice? Where does it come from?
A: Rice is the seed of a plant called Oryza Sativa.

Q: What food category is rice? Is it a vegetable?
A: Rice falls into the food category of "grain" with barley, wheat, and oats.

Q: Are brown rice and white rice different varieties of rice? from different plants?
A: Brown and white rice can actually be the same variety of rice, but the processing of the grain is different. Using a rice huller, the outside layer of the rice grain is removed when creating brown rice. For white rice, more is removed including the husk or bran.

Q: Why is brown rice considered healthier than white rice?
A: Most of the nutrients are contained in the bran of the rice and when that is removed to make white rice, the nutrients are gone with it. Many manufacturers will enrich the rice and put back some of the nutrients, but white rice still doesn't have the fiber of brown rice.

I love all kinds of rice, but now I know to look for whole grain brown rice!

Uncle Ben's makes brown rice in three forms, depending on how you like to cook it. They have a boil-in-bag, a fast and natural, and a traditional. I made the fast and natural version last night and it was easy and delicious. If you haven't made rice for awhile, you just put the rice and water in a pan (quantities are on the box) and bring to a boil; cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. Doesn't get much easier than that! I love to add steamed mixed vegetables.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Uncle Ben's and received samples to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central is going to send me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.