One of my favorite low-calorie snacks would have to be the rice cake. The crunch and subtle flavor of simply puffed brown rice is a marvel to me. I stick to the lightly salted version but every now and then I'll stray to another variety like White Cheddar or Carmel. The White Cheddar isn't exactly what I would consider as a marvelous feat of cooking ingenuity. There has to be some other way to make an equally low-calorie food without using a dusting of highly artificial powdered cheese. Sure it offers a different taste but cows would simply be horrified that this product claims to originate from cheese. The Carmel kind on the other hand acts as a delicious dessert or snack. It is not as fakey as the White Cheddar and is representative of a caramelized sugar glaze. Quite appetizing indeed. My favorite way to enjoy a Lightly Salted rice cake is to sandwich two together with a layer of crunchy peanut butter, or to top one with shredded cheese and microwave it for half a minute or so. Well guess what I learned the last time I was cooking myself one of these bad boys. Let me start with the fact that the rice cake I did cook had a black burnt spot in the middle. Well right on the bag there is a disclaimer that says not to cook these in the microwave. That's right readers (?) this is a non-microwavable food! The problem is that I can't figure why the heck not. Let's investigate shall we? Ingredients: whole grain brown rice and salt....Definitely has no affect on its microwavableness (that's a new word of mine). The simple process of making rice cakes is based on the fact that rice subjected to the right combination of heat and pressure. So it must have something to do with the cooking process...I have yet to determine the actual reason. But I do know that rice cakes are a staple food in most other countries. Though they may not appear in the same styrofoam form as they do in America, the idea behind them is still the same. Well that leaves me with listing all the varieties that I have uncovered from the abyss of the World Wide Web.
Quaker is the only true company with a monopoly on these things. I'm sure there are the assorted organic producers and the generic store-brands but for the sake of time let's just say Quaker is king. They also offer bags of mini rice cakes that generally are denser and crunchier than the traditional-sized as well as Tortillaz which are composed of rice and corn.
-cheddar cheese
-caramel corn
-apple cinnamon
-chocolate
-ranch kettle corn
-sour cream & onion
-BBQ
-nacho cheese
-honey nut
-honey graham
-cinnamon sugar
-cracker jack butter toffee
-lightly salted
-peanut butter chocolate chip
-white cheddar
-salt free
-maple brown sugar
-chocolatey drizzle (mini)
-caramel drizzle (mini)
-chocolately mint (mini)
-cinnamon streusel (mini)
-peanut butter (mini)
-buttered popcorn (mini)
-white chocolately drizzle (mini)
-zesty guacamole (torillaz)
-cheesy nacho (torillaz)
RECIPE TIME!
Peanut Butter n' Marshmallow Crunch Cake
1 Quaker Caramel Corn Rice Cakes
2 Tbl. marshmallow creme (room temp.)
2 tsp. reduced fat creamy peanut butter (room temp.)
1/2 tsp. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
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