New Favorite Desert

Last night, after a full week of not cooking a thing, I decided I needed to step it up and move away from take out and frozen meals.  I whipped up a quick meal of farro with chicken sausage, sauteed onion, zucchini, and broccoli, and a drizzle of a butter wine sauce (actually way easier than it sounds and super tasty!).  While I was on a cooking spree, I decided to go for broke and make some desert as well, this coconut rice pudding that I had mentioned briefly in a previous blog post.  It was DELICIOUS!  It is already gluten and dairy free, so I can't wait to make it for my dad, who is gluten and lactose intolerant!  And if I had substituted agave nectar and vanilla bean for the sugar and vanilla extract, it would have been processed-sugar free (i.e. desert for an elimination diet)!   Actually, if I'd also used brown rice (which would probably affect the consistency a bit), it would even be somewhat healthy!

Coconut rice pudding
3 cans coconut milk, 14 oz. each (I used light, boxed coconut milk and measured it out)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened)
2/3 cup arborio rice
3/4 tsp salt
Dash of vanilla extract

Combine everything except the vanilla in a large saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce the heat and then simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. The pudding thickens up considerably. Once the rice is cooked and the pudding is thick, remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract

It's really easy - hardest part is making sure it doesn't boil over (I failed here, mine boiled over twice....) and remembering to stir every so often.  I'd also be tempted next time to include some add-ins a la Alton Brown's recipe, spiced with cardamom and sprinkled with raisins and pistachios - yum!

(image from here)