Calming Your Gut and Spirit at the Same Time

Millions of people in the U.S.A. and other parts of the world have gastric disorders related to the foods they eat. I’m one of them. With me, my first symptoms of abdominal pain after eating occurred in my fifties after coming home from a marvelous two-week vacation aboard a cruise ship. Since then, I have experienced periods of being able to eat anything I care to with no adverse effects, sometimes for years. But of late, flare-ups have been coming more often, even in the midst of being treated by my doctor.

However, I have learned to rely on a ‘safe’ tasty rice pudding that has lots of soluble fiber—that’s the fiber that is easy to digest—but almost no fat. Here are my detailed easy-to-follow instructions based an original recipe by Heather Van Vorous¹ that she says was created by her husband Will. She calls it “Will’s Dreamy Lemon Rice Pudding.”

The ingredients you will need: white rice, soy, rice, or oat milk; water, large eggs, salt, canola oil, granulated sugar, bottled or fresh lemon juice, pure vanilla extract.

Cook 3 cups of white rice either the day before you are going to make your rice pudding or in the morning when you’ll make the dish later in the afternoon or evening. For convenience I use an electric rice maker. Keep cooked rice in the refrigerator until ready to make this recipe.

Preparation:

Pour 3 cups of soy, rice, or oat milk and 3 cups of water into a 5-quart stainless steel stockpot and place on your range. You need a stockpot this large as the rice pudding bubbles up quickly and can overflow the container.
Whip the whites of 5 large eggs in a stainless steel mixing bowl with an electric mixer about 4 minutes until they form peaks. Place the bowl in your refrigerator.
Bring the milk and water in the stockpot to a gentle boil over medium heat.
With a metal whisk add ¼ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of canola oil, and ½ cup of granulated sugar to the milk/water mixture.
Remove whipped egg whites from the refrigerator and stir into the cold stainless bowl about 3 large spoonfuls of the hot milk/water mixture to temper the egg whites.
Add the tempered egg whites to the stockpot of milk/water, whisking thoroughly over medium heat (slightly bubbling) for about 3 minutes.
Add the 3 cups of cold cooked rice to the stockpot. Continue to cook over medium heat at a gentle boil, whisking continuously for about 20-30 minutes until the pudding begins to thicken. It will thicken more after it cools.
Remove the stockpot from the hot burner. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. Then stir in 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Enjoy this good-for-your-gut rice pudding warm when you first make it. And store the rest of it in the refrigerator to be served later either warm or chilled.