Short grain brown rice (SGBR) is a great staple grain. But there are many grains to enjoy. Variety helps to please the pallet, as well as rounding out the nutrition, vitamins and minerals that may be missing in various grains. Variety is the spice of life and it will help keep you healthy.

Here are some grain combos that I enjoy and why. Short grain brown rice is the basic grain that I eat. It is like a sticky rice. You can make it into balls and put some umeboshi plum paste in the middle. That makes a great snack.

Long grain brown rice (LGBR) is more “fluffy”, and doesn’t stick together. I would use it in casserole like paella.

Sweet brown rice is a sticky rice. When I mix it with short grain brown rice, I use a 1-1 ratio. This also makes great rice balls and nori rolls.

A different texture is short grain brown rice and barley. You can buy pearled barley and that has been hulled. You can use un-hulled barley. That will need to be sprouted. Combine short grain brown rice to un-hulled barley in a 3:1 ratio. That might look like 3/4 cup SGBR and 1/4 barley. To 1 cup of grain, add 2 cups water and pinch of salt if you like. Let it sit for at least eight hours. Then bring it to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 40-50 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

Wheat berries and spelt berries taste good mixed with SGBR. It changes the texture in a very nice way. I will use the same recipe as above.

Another combo is SGBR with wild rice cooked the same as above.

Once the rice mixture is cooked you can eat it plain (just as it is), make a porridge, stir fry into a pilaf or make a sweet dessert. Enjoy great nutrition and fabulous health from the kitchen!