Eat

Is This Spaghetti Or Brown Rice?

It’s both! We show you how to reap the health benefits of brown rice in your fave pasta dish.

Portrait of Tammy Strobel

It’s both! We show you how to reap the health benefits of brown rice in your fave pasta dish.

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Eating healthy may be the ideal for many, but it’s not always an easy task. Good news: Experts say one of the easiest and more effective ways to make eat-healthy plans stick is to add small changes to your daily diet. One of the simplest swaps, with huge payoffs, is to switch to brown rice, and here’s why:

1 It’ll Give You A Fibre Boost

Fibre is commonly known to keep the food moving along our body. Dietary fibre helps to maintain healthy bowel movements, and lowers cholesterol. The fibre in brown rice is also known to reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer. Just one cup of brown rice meets 14 per cent of the recommended intake of fibre for one day.

2 It’s Gluten Free

Gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, may cause bloating, diarrhoea or gastro-intestinal discomfort in some people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. It’s also been shown to exacerbate problems for those with inflammatory or autoimmune diseas Whether it’s a voluntary choice or a dietary requirement, can rely on brown rice as a natural gluten-free staple.

3 It’s Great For Weight Watchers

Brown rice has a lower glycemic index (GI) than white rice. This index classifies food by how quickly and how high they raise blood sugar levels. carbohydrates with a low GI value (55 or less) take a longer time to digest (so you stay fuller for longer), absorb and metabolise, and cause a lower and slower rise in blood sugarand hence, insulin levels. The World health Organisation recommends basing our diets on low GI foods to prevent coronary heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Brown rice has a glycemic index of 55, while short grain white rice is 72.

We know it may be a challenge to make this simple swap – merely because you can’t hide the fact that brown rice is, well, brown. So we’ve got just the trick: Use brown rice pasta in place of white pasta, because we know no one in the family can turn down a good pasta dish!

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Chilli Mussel Spaghetti

Prep 20 mins / cook 10 mins / Serves 4

• 250 g San Remo 100% Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti, cooked according to packet instructions.

• 2 tbsps olive oil.

• 1 onion, sliced.

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed.

• 2 long red chillies, thinly sliced.

• 1 cup white wine.

• 1 bottle San Remo Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce.

• 4 tbsps San Remo Sundried Tomato & Garlic Concentrato Stir-In Sauce.

• 1 kg mussels, bearded, scrubbed.

• ¼ bunch parsley, leaves picked CRUMBS.

• ¼ cup olive oil.

• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs.

• ¼ cup pine nuts.

1. heat oil in a large saucepan on medium. Saute onion 2 to 3 mins, until tender. add garlic and chilli and cook 1 min, until fragrant.

2. add wine to pan to deglaze. Stir in pasta sauce and concentrato sauce and bring to the boil. add mussels. cook, covered, for 2 to 3 mins, until mussels open.

3. crumbS meanwhile, heat oil in large frying pan on medium. Fry breadcrumbs 1 to 2 mins, stirring until golden. add pine nuts and cook 1 to 2 mins, until golden. Season to taste.

4. Stir spaghetti through musslels and sauce and heat gently. Serve sprinkled with crumb mixture and parsley leaves.

 PHOTO ROB SHAW / BAUERSYNDICATION.COM.AU.