Brown vs. White Rice

My husband totally saw this post coming. Last night, he worked late (like 3 hours past dinnertime late) so I found a recipe that was really quick and easy that I wouldn't need his help with. It called for instant uncooked brown rice. Then it said that you simmer the mixture for 10 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Okay cool. We mostly have white rice at our house but we actually had bought a bag of brown rice we hadn't opened yet so I was excited to have the chance to use it. It wasn't instant though but somehow I didn't find that word important. I put it on the stove and ten minutes later, the rice wasn't even close to done. Well, that's okay. Our white rice bag says 15 minutes but it's really more like 20. Maybe I just need to give it another 10. So I did. At this point, we are starving (and actually split a tv dinner just so we don't pass out from hunger) but we figure it's only another 10 minutes. Then again, we taste it. Still not cooked. What is going on? I tried to take the cover off, thinking that would help. Nope. I put it back on. Nope. We get to talking and finally I look at how long the bag of brown rice thinks it should take. 45-60 minutes! WHAT!?!? Why does brown rice take so much longer than white rice??? Needless to say, we had to wait another half hour for dinner.

But really. Brown rice is supposed to be healthier. Healthier doesn't mean cook for 3 times as long! I could rant and rave about this all day (and sort of did last night) but...I just don't get it. This is like a sign that I shouldn't use brown rice anymore. It's health benefits can't possibly outweigh the fact it takes so darn long to cook! Ugh!