Cooking Soaked/Sprouted Brown Rice

Take a pot and add:

4 1/2 c. water (prefer filtered or purified)
4 Tbsp. Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (like Bragg's) or lemon juice, buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, or whey
2 c. brown rice

Stir and cover with lid and leave for at least 7 hours on the counter. (If you have less time, do as long as possible, any bit helps).

In same pot, add 1 tsp. sea salt (opt.). Bring water to a boil for 5 min. uncovered. Then boil covered on low heat for 30-45 min. Do not take lid off early. Check to see if water is absorbed and rice is tender. If not, do not stir, but cover and cook another 10 min. or so until done.


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If you are curious what this does, you might look closely at the rice before you cook it. You can see it looks like a sprouted seed, though I rarely pay attention any more, so no promises that it will every time--I don't actually check. But the sprouting is something that changes the grain and makes the nutrients more digestible and also helps those with sensitive stomachs.


This recipe takes no extra time, just a bit planning. It should cook quicker b/c it is soaked. If you like, double the recipe and keep the extra for another meal. It's very soft and SO good for you. Sometimes I just add a bit of scrambled eggs, some coconut oil, tamari, and some veggies (like onion, pepper, or shreds of carrots) and make a meal of it. Or I add it to some chicken broth and make some soup.

For more info on soaking and sprouting grains, see: http://www.suegregg.com/about/c.htm. At the bottom of the page is an excellent brochure you can print out. Sue Gregg cookbooks are my favorites. You might also want to read this previous post.

How do you get soaked or sprouted grains?

So, your considering how to soak and sprout your bread, but you don't know how to do this.

If you'd like to buy bread this way you can find sprouted bread at most health food stores and many grocery stores. My favorite is "Ezekiel 4:9" bread and tortillas. I've found where I can get it locally for only $2 a loaf, though it is often more expensive. You can check out their website at http://www.foodforlife.com/ for more info. or to find a store. I especially like their cereal (all other cereals are banned from our house since I find out puffed, flake, and shaped cereals are basically not digestible.) I like all their bread products, but haven't like their pasta. Their bread is maybe tougher and drier than you are used to, but that can be helped by warming the bread and adding butter or olive oil.

Or you can make it yourself! The advantage here, is that is tastes as good or better than if it were not soaked! Soak your flour in buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, or water with 1 Tbsp whey lemon juice or vinegar per cup of water. Then cover and let stand on the counter. The minimum time is 7 hour and up to 24 is best. Don't add your eggs or milk yet and it really is good to leave it out. (Takes some mental adjustment for some of us!) Then add the rest of your ingredients and your ready to cook it. This can be applied to rice, beans, oatmeal, muffins, pancakes, and on and on. Some of the breads come out better b/c of this process. Note: there is no point in doing this with white flour, as there aren't more nutrients to release!

My explanation is a bit simplified. I highly recommend Sue Gregg's cookbooks, which are being edited to include this process. (Even the books not yet updated come with information on how to convert the recipes.) Meals in Minutes is a great book that has been updated. I've found her cookbooks to be the best I've ever seen. She doesn't assume you know what your doing (which I sometimes don't!) She gives you lots of instructions, adaptation tips, and even helps you put menus together. Try her pancakes/waffles by visiting http://www.suegregg.com/recipes/breakfasts/blenderbatterwaffles/blenderbatterwafflesA.htm

Of course if you want the full lesson you can read Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, but when I borrowed it, I was disappointed in both the recipes I tried. The instructions were not good enough. BUT the information on diet and nutrition (half the book) is excellent. So, I will own it as a resource, not really a cookbook.

What you really need to know about grains...

I'll assume you've gotten the basics of avoiding white flour like the plague. (And I mean as an ingredient called "wheat flour" not just as white bread.) Let's talk about why people are tossing out grains, for the latest health trend or even b/c of allergies.

Let's go back to the beginning and think what grains might have been. According to my world view, there were gardeners in the first generation of people, and farmers by the second. SO, I don't buy that grains were not what our early ancestors ate (the basis of some diet philosophies.) But according to research by Weston A. Price, native populations all either soaked or sprouted their grains. AND they ground the grain shortly before they made it. The closest the modern diet comes to this is sourdough bread, which is usually white bread.

This process neutralizes the phytic acids and start breaking down tannins and gluten, and increase the amount of nutrition the body can absorb. For my husband it has helped with his grain sensitivities. But many don't know about the difference of simply soaking grain before cooking. Others don't want to do the work of planning ahead or cooking from scratch.

So, next time you hear about avoiding bread, remember that this because most Americans have white flour even in their "wheat bread". And breads and grains include: muffins, pancakes, pasta, croutons, corn chips, tortillas, and on and on.

Come back soon for how to make this ideal a livable reality. In the meantime, those of you research oriented people might want to read more details at: http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/be_kind.html
Or if you are not quite ready for all this, you can read more on white flour: http://www.westonaprice.org/transition/whiteflour.html