Rice the grain of my people!
The people who are allergic to wheat, that is. With that, I realized I'm going to be 'that guy' at restaurants. You know, the one that seems like a prick because he's following the most recent fad diet (not that it doesn't work for some people, but there is evidence of people blowing it WAY out of proportion), but no, I just actually have allergies.
That being said, rice is going to open up a lot of doors I thought had been closed due to my slew of grain allergies because a lot of gluten- and wheat-free flours/recipes call for rice flour. That being said, I'm sure this blog will degenerate in the far future into a straight-up food blog and I guarantee there will be recipes for the gluten-intolerant to drool over, because I demand the best.
That being said, damn, rice is bland, and I didn't even need to be told that. The eventual addition of butter was a plus, but overall, I wasn't impressed with my first few times eating rice. People have told me that once I have a plate of actual dinner: rice, broccoli, chicken (all of these are spoilers by the way), the mixture of flavors will give the rice a whole new life. I long for that day.
As a follow up to rice, I began to look into some of those gluten-/wheat-free products in the health food aisle that is conveniently marked by brown signage like it was recently dragged from the earth itself, much like the products within its shelves (graphic designer rant of unoriginality over). So my girlfriend (as a refresher, let's call her Rachel) and I picked out some rice-based Mac 'n Cheese and went to town. I honestly think my second time having Mac 'n Cheese is going to be far better, as in the back of my mind, I kept expecting to keel over dead.
Some backstory: my wheat allergy is actually so bad that I have to leave my house when my parents want to have pasta. I think its something to do with the powder from the pasta getting aerated, but my chest tightens up and I start wheezing like a 60-year-old smoker. Not fun. Anyway, even though it was professed in pale-tan letters akin to a tumbleweed blowing across the fields from which the rice was reaped, that it was very clearly wheat-free, I was distrusting and my concern may have put a damper on my experience.
That being said, the cheese was delicious and until my next great experience with my food therapist, Arden, it ranked as the top food in the world. It had a few weeks in that position, but alas. It fell.
Stay tuned, we've got some T.M.I. coming up next round. Happy eating!
