Black is the new Brown

Just when your favorite sushi place FINALLY started adding a couple rolls with brown rice to the menu, and that Chinese place you always order from started actually offering the option of brown instead of white, there's a new healthy grain in town to mix everything up again: black rice. The dark morsels are also known as forbidden rice because according to Chinese legend, only emperors were allowed to eat it, and everyone else was prohibited because it was so rare, delicious, and nutritious. Fast forward a few hundred years, and while still uncommon, it is now available at your local Whole Foods.

Black rice is reported to carry the same good for you antioxidants that got blueberries the status of super-fruit over the summer. Except black rice is even better because you receive the cancer-fighting, heart health-promoting anthocyanin antioxidants, but with even more fiber and less sugar than its berry rival. It's even more beneficial when it's eaten in the uncooked, rice bran form. Black rice has quickly gained status as an "it" food, providing you with vitamin E, iron, a host of other nutrients, and additionally working as an anti-inflammatory agent to reduce general infection and illness.

Suggestions for preparing it include replace substituting in any recipe where white or brown rice is called for, but be prepared for the nutty flavor it will add to the dish, and be sure to add a little extra water. Pulverize kernels in your coffee grinder and sprinkle the black rice dust over any dish. Soak the rice and pop in a saucepan with a little oil for a crunchy pop-corn like snack.