Leftover rice pudding

~ unsupermoms

rice-puddingI attended an Immigrant and Refugee forum hosted by Mayor Hancock of Denver today. I am proud of everything Denver is doing to make the safety, health and wellbeing of ALL its people a priority, but I am still nauseated by the executive orders raining down and the resulting fears and concerns that plague many of my fellow Denverites. This recipe is a way of taking a break, and possibly settling a few stomachs, at least for a little while.

Why so much leftover rice…? I never seem to know how to measure rice to make the right amount for the number of people I need to serve. Or I plan on feeding kids who love rice and then suddenly that day they want none of it. Or I forget that Asian restaurants send rice with each entree and order extra rice per person, and then invariably discover that each serving is enough for at least 2 to 3 hungry men. Whatever the reason, whenever we have rice for a meal, there is always a ton left over. And you can only reheat rice so many times… But since we discovered that you could make rice pudding out of left over rice, we cook too much rice on purpose!

This rice pudding is delicious and in my mind a good alternative to oatmeal or any other breakfast porridge or cereal – at least it contains some eggs for protein. More about protein some other time, but suffice it to say, I am a bit of protein pusher. I really think it makes a difference to everyone’s disposition and wellbeing. Anyway, back to left over rice. This is suuuuper easy and totally delicious. It can be breakfast or dessert with equal ease. Give it a try and let me know your thoughts!

  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream (you can just use more milk if you prefer but cream is extra yummy)
  • 4 large eggs, beaten
  • scant 1/2 cup sugar (whatever you have or prefer – coconut sugar, granulated, light brown… I try to limit the sugar I put in so you can sweeten to taste if needed and avoid extra sugar where possible, hence just a scant 1/2 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • lemon zest from 1 lemon (be careful not to zest too deep – or watch the kids closely if they are on lemon duty – because the bitter pith will ruin the whole thing – we’ve done this and it was tragic)
  • 5 whole green cardamom pods
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 3 cups cooked left over rice (I have always used basmati or similar but you can try other kinds and let me know how it goes)

You can add raisins or cranberries in the middle of cooking, or sprinkle with nuts when serving if you like. Actually fresh berries or mango might be nice too. We never do any of this because we love the plain creamy comforting texture, and it is quite tasty enough as is.

Now simply throw everything into a slow cooker, whisking together milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, zest, cardamom pods, and nutmeg. Then stir in rice, cover and cook on high 1 -2 hours, stirring occasionally if you remember. When it is nice and porridgy and all the liquid has absorbed, your pudding is ready. You can leave it in the slow cooker on low for a while, or turn it on whenever you are ready to serve it. The boys like to drizzle with honey and dust with cinnamon, and sometimes add a bit of milk, mainly to cool it down so they can eat it faster.

Hope you like this as much as we do! Please let me know if try it or enhance it!

(Recipe adapted from Epicurious.com)