Can I substitute brown rice for white rice, and if so, is the calorie count different for brown rice vs. white rice? – Jamie S. Petoskey, MI

Hi Jamie!
Brown rice can be substituted any time the rice isn’t baked or cooked into the dish.  For example, my  jambalaya recipe from The Most Decadent Diet Ever! has white rice because the brown rice never cooked right in our trials.  I’ve been making it with red rice and it tastes great, although the rice has more of a bite to it so it doesn’t taste like traditional jambalaya.  That said, my friends and I LOVE it.  I can’t remember any other dishes that I use white rice in (I try to avoid it myself), but if any of the “fried” rice dishes or anything have it, you can certainly substitute brown.  There are a lot of folks in America who don’t like brown, so if I do use white, that’s why.  The calories of white and brown rice aren’t that much different, but the brown rice is processed better in our bodies.  Plus it has fiber, which fills you up.

Thanks for your question!

Devin