rice

New Orleans cuisine: boy, it may have a richly-colored heritage, but unless you're from around there, it sure can be confusing. Not only is it hard to keep track of which dishes are Cajun and which ones are Creole, but those rice dishes can be pretty tough to keep straight! So gumbo, jambalaya, étouffée: what's the difference, anyway?

Think of jambalaya as a distant relative of paella. It's got protein and vegetables (sometimes tomatoes, sometimes not), with rice and stock later simmered together or combined before serving. In contrast, gumbo — a mix of vegetables and meat or shellfish with thickened stock — is thinner and served as a soup alongside rice that's cooked separately.

Different from gumbo (which is considered a soup), étouffée's a main course, made of one type of shellfish (crawfish or shrimp, for instance) that's been smothered in a thick sauce and sometimes served ladled over rice. Don't confuse any of these, of course, with the city's historic Monday favorite: red beans and rice. Got all that?

Rice can be the perfect accompaniment to many a meal, but it's not exactly the healthiest option. White rice, for example, causes a spike in blood sugar levels and increases your risk of diabetes. But you don't have to ditch it all; here are some tips for healthier rice habits.

Swap your white rice: Those pearly grains have been washed and polished of all their nutrients, so it's hard to justify the calories in your bowl of white rice. In fact, white rice has had almost all the vitamin B3, iron, fiber, and essential fatty acids found in brown rice removed. Even though white rice is enriched with some of these nutrients, brown rice contains far more. So swap your normal white rice accompaniment with brown or black rice instead.

Make a smaller serving: Is your side of rice is looking more like a main? Halve your serving and save calories and carbs while still getting your rice fix. Stick with 1/6 cup of dried rice, for example, for only 107 calories. Fill the rest of your plate with veggies instead for a healthier meal.

Stay away from fried: It's tempting to order fried rice with your takeout, but ordering steamed rice instead can save calories and fat. Fried rice has twice the amount of calories in steamed white rice (at 333 calories per cup and 12 grams of fat); steering clear of it won't make you feel like you're missing out on your indulgence, but you could save a substantial amount of calories.

Preparing a Greek feast? Ditch the pita, and instead make like dmash and dig into a bowl of aromatic spinach-flecked rice.

I'm horribly addicted to rice. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. 4th Meal. Midnight snack. ANY TIME OF THE DAY I will gobble down a bowl of rice. So when my aunt gave me this recipe for Spanakorizo (i think it might mean spinach rice in Greek?) I haven't stopped making it. It pairs perfectly with some kebabs and a homemade yogurt sauce!

For the full recipe, check out her blog and be sure to upload your latest food-related obsessions with us in the YumSugar Community. If you're on Instagram, then join us by tagging your pictures with the hashtag #savorysight.

Fresh Tart reminds us that the best things in life are often fried, like these enticing arancini.

Like some sort of mad fryentist, give me a pan of hot oil and I will riff on and on an on... See — Fried Cheese Curds — for what was really Part II of my latest fry tear (and a delicious one at that).

Part I began last Friday night, when my cousin Kelly and her husband Jomo came for dinner, and I spied leftover risotto in the cooler. The vision of arancini leapt into my head and while I really didn't have time to make them, I did anyhow, and gosh were we glad that I did. Risotto is lovely fried (le duh), especially with a little square of mozzarella cheese pressed into the middle (le duh), and just beautiful to snack on with a glass of prosecco.

In fact, I would happily have just that for dinner, with sliced tomatoes and a light salad to finish.

Keep reading for her recipe.

Even 12 hours of refrigeration will dehydrate rice, leaving it tough, dry, and sticky. There are a few quick methods of reviving it, so it tastes almost as fluffy and light as the day it was made. No matter what your method of preparation, oil and a little liquid are the keys to helping rice retain its moisture and clump-free texture.

• Reheat it in the microwave: For every cup of rice, add a few tablespoons of broth or water. Cover the bowl of rice with plastic wrap or another bowl to create a steaming effect as it reheats.
• Stir-fry it: In a large wok or sauté pan, heat canola or peanut oil on high. Make a fried rice, breaking up the lumps of rice with a wooden spoon so the oil coats the granules evenly.
• Stove-top steam it: In a sauce pan, add the rice with a few tablespoons of butter and a splash of broth or water. Cover the pan and steam the rice on a low flame. Stir occasionally until the rice is heated thoroughly.

Kimchi is one of those foods that either makes people drool or recoil in horror. A staple of the Korean diet, the spicy, fermented cabbage is as pungent and vibrant as it is strong in flavor. A quiet, unassuming food it is not.

To make this Asian basic, fresh Winter napa cabbage is salted until it wilts, then coated with a fiery concoction of dried hot pepper paste and powder, garlic, and briny shrimp paste or oysters, sealed in earthenware jars, and left to ferment for a month or two. The result is a pickle beyond compare, reflecting sour, spicy, refreshing, stinky, and bright flavors all at once.

Source: Flickr User Nagyman

While kimchi typically is eaten in conjunction with rice, a protein, and other banchan (side dishes), sometimes a taste this bold must stand on its own. One of the most popular — and fastest — meals based on this zesty side is kimchi bokkeumbap, or kimchi fried rice. Using the residual juice from the jar to season the rice really brings out the kimchi flavor, and a drizzle of sesame oil gives it a nutty, distinctly Korean air. You can use just about any protein, including my favorite, Spam! Or leave out the meat for a vegetarian version that's just as tasty. Ready to give it a try? Just read on for the recipe.

My lifelong relationship with rice has been solid yet stagnant: growing up in a Chinese household, plain white rice served hot out of the rice maker was integral to every lunch and dinner, although it never strayed from its spartan form.

Yet recently, my intrigue with this herbed rice salad from David Tanis's latest cookbook has sparked something of a phenomenon. I no longer want to eat plain rice. Instead, I want to eat his herbed rice with everything. Grilled meats? Check. Chilled shellfish? Check. Tomato salad? Double check.

The key is to skip the rice cooker and boil the rice the old-school way, to prevent the grains from sticking. Cook until just slightly chewy, then spread them out to dry and mix them with herbs by hand to keep everything airy. I like to add chopped fresh Summer vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes. The end product reminds me of a fluffier, more comforting, slightly warm version of tabbouleh. Keep reading to get the building block of a recipe.

If you've never made paella, the traditional Spanish rice dish with origins in Valencia, I highly recommend you give it a try this weekend! This uncomplicated recipe is easy to follow and has awesome results. The paella is filling, flavorful, and delicious. It's packed with chorizo and shellfish, so it has a wonderful surf-and-turf quality.

Although the recipe has you cook the paella on the grill, I made it on the stovetop. Other substitutions to note: I used Mexican chorizo instead of Spanish chorizo and omitted the squid and saffron, because of a restricted selection at the local market. Despite these changes, I really enjoyed this paella and plan to make it again soon! Check out the recipe now.