Boiled White Rice Recipe

When my dad's family lived in Japan, his mom asked for a no-fail recipe for boiling rice, and the recipe has been passed down to me (and probably my sister, though I don't know how much rice she makes). I'm passing it on to you, dear readers, with optional olive oil and salt.

3 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
a dash of salt (optional)
2 cups rice

Rinse rice. Pour water, olive oil, and salt in a sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil on high heat. Add the rice. Bring heat down to medium heat and allow to lightly simmer uncovered. Simmer until water evaporates - about 20 minutes or so. Fluff and serve hot immediately.

Boiled Amaranth Recipe

In the spirit of getting back to basics (with some actual measurements), here's the basic recipe I use for boiling amaranth seed (adapted from 1).

2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
a dash of salt (optional)
1 cup amaranth

Rinse amaranth. Pour water, oil, and salt into sauce pan and bring to a vigorous boil. Add amaranth. Allow the amaranth to boil for until the water evaporates - about 20 minutes or so. The end result should be sticky, but not gummy.

A basic buckwheat recipe

A few weeks back, as part of my efforts to get over major food boredom, I bought some buckwheat groats to try. I finally made another curry-like dish last night and a oatmeal-like dish this morning, both of which need some refining before I post here. I will admit that buckwheat has an unusual texture that I need to get used to (fluffy, but kind of springy), but I understand why the food allergy community likes to use the grain as the base for pancakes so much. Here's a basic cooked buckwheat recipe.

Cooked Buckwheat
4 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
a dash of salt (optional)
1 cup uncooked, rinsed buckwheat groats

Pour water in a saucepan. Add olive oil and salt, if desired. Bring water to boil. Add buckwheat. Turn stove to medium-high, or just enough so that the contents are vigorously simmering. Cook until the water evaporates. Serve hot immediately.