Let's finish up our celebration of whole grains month with some new thoughts and recipes for brown rice. You may not realize it, but brown rice now appears on the FDA list of whole grains, after being added last year. Sometimes brown rice can get a bit of a bum rap, and there's no denying it's a little trickier to cook than white rice. No worries though because food bloggers have some great ideas for turning brown rice into a menu item that will make you pay attention!

First, let's talk about some basic ways to cook brown rice. Personally I'm a big fan of the rice cooker for perfect brown rice, but if you don't have a rice cooker there are other methods that people swear by. A Life Less Sweet shares How I Made Peace with Brown Rice with a simple change in how she cooked it. At Pinch My Salt, Nicole weights in with How to Cook Perfect Brown Rice with instructions from Saveur Magazine. I'm guessing there must be something to the Saveur method, because Alanna also used it for her Perfect Stovetop Brown Rice recipe from A Veggie Venture. Once you've mastered that perfect brown rice, here are a few dishes to try.

Photo of Black Beans and Brown Rice with Lime, Cilantro, and Chipotle from Wednesday Food Blogging.

Wednesday Food Blogging is really speaking my language with Black Beans and Brown Rice with Lime, Cilantro, and Chipotle. Kathy says the rice and beans become something else entirely with these flavorings.

Photo of Brown Rice with Herb Marinated Broccoli, Zucchini, and Daikon from Lucullian Delights

At Lucullian Delights in Italy, Ilva does Gluten Free Fridays every week, and brown rice is a perfect gluten-free food. I think Ilva always uses ingredients in a creative way, and don't you love the looks of this Brown Rice with Herb Marinated Broccoli, Zucchini, and Daikon?

Photo of Thai-Inspired Brown Rice Salad from This Mama Cooks.

Mention Thai and I'm there, so of course I loved the sound of the Thai-Inspired Brown Rice Salad at This Mama Cooks. Even better, this recipe is diet friendly!

Photo of Baked Brown Rice Risotto with Roasted Acorn Squash from Supermarket Serenade

There are lots of flavor-enhancing ingredients in the Baked Brown Rice Risotto with Roasted Acorn Squash from Supermarket Serenade, and it also sounds super easy to make.

Photo of Brown Rice Vegetable Rolls from Korean Cuisine

Finally, they look a bit more challenging to make but the Brown Rice Vegetable Rolls from Korean Cuisine look to me like they would be worth the work. (My favorite supermarket now sells brown rice sushi, and I love it!)

A Few More Creative Ideas with Brown Rice:
~Delicious Wisdom uses brown rice mixed with other ingredients to form a crust for Brown Rice Pizza.
~I think I'd love the Southwest Brown Rice and Black Bean Burgers I spotted on Prudence Pennywise.
~Picky Palate has Chicken Sausage, Broccoli, and Parmesan Brown Rice Dinner which sounds like a good combination.
~For a dessert using brown rice, how about the Overnight Quinoa and Brown Rice Pudding Slow Cooker Recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking.
~Rookie Cookie has Shrimp Creole with Brown Rice.

(Every Thursday night on BlogHer, we spotlight five recipes with a common theme for a feature called Weekend Menu Planning, hoping one of them might make it onto the menu at your house. You can find previous recipes shared by clicking the tag Weekend Menu Planning.)

Kalyn Denny also blogs at Kalyn's Kitchen, where she's focused on creating low-glycemic recipes using fresh ingredients. Kalyn loves to use brown rice in recipes like Stuffed Zucchini with Brown Rice, Ground Beef, Red Bell Pepper, and Basil.