Savory Black Rice Porridge

I love porridge.  It's so creamy and soothing and satisfying.  I grew up on Malt O Meal and Cream of Wheat, and as I've gotten older porridge of any kind has become a comfort food, especially during the cold months of winter.  Ali has a recipe for rice porridge in the Elimination Diet book, which calls for grinding the rice in her Vitamix, but the last time I did the diet was in summer, and I was craving the cooling smoothies more than porridge. 

Since then, hubby and I have discovered black rice, also called forbidden rice, and have fallen in love with its rich, nutty flavor and the way it makes us feel.  Doesn't hurt that it has as many or more antioxidants as blue berries either!  It makes a lovely rice pudding that hubby enjoys for breakfast, but I can't eat sweets like I used to, so I've been working on a recipe for a savory version of porridge.  I haven't tried grinding it in my blender, but I imagine it would work ok.  Instead I use the mill that was my birthday present last year, so I've included instructions for using that.

Set stones til they are just barely brushing, then grind rice.  Should also be possible to coarsely grind it in a blender or a coffee grinder that is specifically used for spices.  Don't use one that grinds coffee though, or it will be cross contaminated if you are doing the ED, or just taste like coffee.  Here's my attempt at showing the texture it should be in a 1/4 cup measure.

 Savory Black Rice Porridge

1 C cool chicken stock
1/4 C coarsely ground black rice
2 tsp dried chives
1 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp (dash) turmeric
1/8 tsp (dash) coriander
1/16 tsp (pinch) cumin
salt

Add all ingredients except salt to a pot and cook for 10-15 minutes.  Start with a medium temperature burner, stirring constantly.  When it starts simmering, turn the temperature

down so it doesn't burn but is still lightly simmering and let it finish cooking until thick.  Salt to taste, depends a lot on whether your stock has salt in it or not.

ED add ons: caramelized onions, chopped sunflower or pumpkin seeds, cook with some finely chopped veggies like green beans and carrots...use your imagination!

Yield: 1 serving

Tip: Using cool ingredients and stirring constantly while it all heats up avoids lumps in your porridge.  They are almost impossible to avoid if adding ingredients to hot liquid.  Once it is simmering you can relax a little bit, but there's the risk of it burning, so don't ignore it.  Also, you might want to invest in these little measuring spoons so you can measure less than 1/4 tsp reliably.  I found some years ago and use them all the time!