Summer Rice Pudding

I LOVE RICE PUDDING! i don't eat it all the time, but when i am looking for the perfect sweet comfort food, rice pudding is it! this recipe is not as full of sins as many other versions, so i enjoy every bite -- and now you can too!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups skim milk, soy milk, almond milk, or milk of your choice
1 cup brown rice
2 tbsp sucanat sugar (i just used plain-ol' brown sugar)
pinch ground nutmeg
3/4 cup low fat plain or vanilla yogurt or soy yogurt (i used plain greek)
1 cup fresh mixed berries
cooking spray

PREPARATION:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. prepare a covered casserole dish with cooking spray. in a medium mixing bowl, combine milk, rice, sugar, and ground nutmeg. pour in to casserole dish, cover and bake 40 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. remove from oven. transfer cooked rice into a bowl and let it cool.

*picture shown above is pre-cooking.

2. once cool, fold yogurt into cooked rice. (i added some honey to sweeten it).

3. rinse and trim berries. if using strawberries, wash, hull and sliced them into bite-sized pieces. divide berries between four decorative dessert dishes or glasses.

4. pour and equal amount of rice mixture on top of the berries in each glass. garnish with a berry or sprig of fresh mint.

TIP: when winter limits your berry selection, choose zingy mandarin oranges, kiwi fruit, and chopped apples!

nutritional value per serving:

calories: 274 / cal. from fat: 16 / protein: 9g / carbs: 54g / dietary fiber: 3g / sugars: 16g / fat: 1g / sodium: 87mg

VIOLA AND HAPPY EATING!