A Light Rice Pudding You'll Love

Looking for a lighter dessert that will still satisfy your sweet tooth? Here’s a recipe for a light rice pudding you’ll love. Even though there are no eggs or butter included, the evaporated skim milk keeps the rice nice and creamy. A little bit of brown sugar keeps the dessert sweet while plump yellow raisins and dried cherries add fantastic texture. Serve with just a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg and a drizzle of honey and you have a comforting, healthy dessert that’s perfect for a crisp fall day.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice (for best results, use short grain or medium grain rice–long grain rice will not work)
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated skim milk
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
• 1/2 cup milk (I like to use soy milk to add a bit of nuttiness, but you can choose your type of milk depending on how “Light” you want your rice pudding to be.)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup of yellow raisins
• a drizzle of honey, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon (or nutmeg, if you prefer), to taste

Give the rice a chance to soak up all the liquid. It will ensure a creamy, satisfying dessert, even without eggs or butter.

Directions:

1. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add rice and cook until tender, stirring frequently. When the rice is cooked all the water should be absorbed.
2. Add the evaporated milk, orange zest, and brown sugar to the pot of cooked rice; cover and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Uncover and cook, stirring frequently, for another 10 minutes or until the rice is very creamy and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
4. Stir in the milk, vanilla and almond extracts and remove the rice from heat.
5. While the rice is cooling to room temperature, boil an extra 1/4 cup of water and pour it into a mug. Add the yellow raisins to the water and stir, then let them sit for 5-10 minutes. This will plump up the raisins and bring out their sweetness.
6. When the rice is at room temperature, stir in the dried cherries and the plumped up raisins and refrigerate for 2 hours or until chilled.
7. When you serve up your rice pudding, add a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg to each serving and drizzle with honey for a great presentation.
8. Enjoy!

Mmm. Look how plump those yellow raisins are.

Note: Yellow raisins are my favorite, but one of the best things about this dessert is that you can get creative and customize the “add-ins.” Try shredded coconut and pineapple, or go for fresh strawberries and blueberries. You could also toast some almond slices and sprinkle them on top. Once I tried adding a spoonful of fresh pomegranate seeds–the pop of juice against the creamy rice made a great flavor/texture combination.

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