Rice as centerpiece or side dish

I used to blame my “freshman 15” on rice. My friends and I, who lived on sticky rice during freshman year at Kent School, seemed to have gained extra weight, compared to the non-rice-eaters. As a solution, many of my friends went on a gluten-free diet, suffering through the withdrawals from cake, pasta and, yes, rice.Unlike what my friends thought, however, rice is gluten-free. Most grain abstainers avoid the gluten protein because they have celiac disease. According to the Harvard Medical School, about 2 million Americans cannot tolerate even the smallest amount of gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye. Rice is safe; it is not included in the gluten category.The fact that rice does not contain gluten does not mean it is also carbohydrate-free. In a 100-gram serving, raw brown rice contains 77 grams of carbohydrates, while processed white rice contains 80 grams of carbohydrates. This number seems to confuse some people who visit Asian countries, where the main dish is rice but most people are lean. That probably has to do with the fact that in Asian countries, rice is often the centerpiece of the meal while in the U.S., rice is usually a side dish.Rice, for many of the world’s people, is a staple food, and while it looks so bland, it’s got a lot of nutrition in it and is dense in vitamins and minerals. A 100-gram serving of raw brown rice has 8 grams of protein as well as vitamin B, iron and magnesium. According to the USA Rice Federation, rice is sodium- and cholesterol-free. So for people looking for a non-toxic energy source, rice is a good bet.Because rice does not stress the digestive pathways, it can also be a good food for people with gastrointestinal distress. People suffering from diarrhea or even the GI stomach bug that seemed to hit the Northwest Corner a couple weeks ago can safely consume rice without extra pain. After this research, I have exonerated rice from blame for my freshman 15. It is my own eating habit — having a rice-filled dinner at around 10 p.m. — that should be held responsible.Because this health column usually has a recipe to go with it, I wanted to share a Korean food called gimbap (made mostly with rice) that can serve as a light lunch, a picnic and hiking snack, or even as a potluck special. They resemble Japanese sushi rolls, but the tuna is cooked, not raw.Tuna-filled gimbapAdapted from www.thekitchn.com5 cups of cooked rice, dried sheets of seaweed, avocado, yellow radish pickle, one can of tuna, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 clove of minced garlic, ground black pepperYou can fill gimbap with all kinds of ingredients but the traditional filling is tuna. First, drain the oil from the can and then cook the tuna for 2 minutes with the soy sauce, garlic and some ground black pepper. Have cooked white rice ready. Take a sheet of the dried seaweed (it’s often sold under the name of “nori”) and wave it over the flame on your stove for a minute or so, to dry it and crisp it up. Place the seaweed on a bamboo mat if you have one, or on a sheet of plastic wrap. Evenly spread a layer of rice in the center of the seaweed. Place the tuna flake down the center of the rice, and add a yellow radish pickle strip and some avocado. Then tightly roll the mat to close the roll. Cut the finished roll into pieces that are about an inch thick.