How to Bake Brown Rice in the Oven

Friends...I'm baking brown rice these days. For years, I'd made it on the stovetop, as that's how I learned how to cook rice when I lived in the Dominican Republic years ago. Then I discovered the rice cooker. I've only been using my rice cooker for a few months, but I love it. It cooks the rice so beautifully, and the clean up is way simpler than cleaning (and sometimes scrubbing out) the saucepan. But I loaned my rice cooker to my sister and I didn't want to go back to the stovetop. (Not that I won't ever cook rice on the stovetop again!) But...even if I set the timer, I might not get there in time...for it to be perfectly cooked. These early days with a baby makes it difficult to commit to being at any one time...even if the timer is set and the rice should be cooked perfectly. We could be in the middle of a fuss-fest, and diaper change and outfit change, or in the middle of a nursing session. Cooking brown rice on the stovetop is a fine art, and requires a bit of attention towards the end, to make sure you get that perfectly cooked and fluffed brown rice to serve for dinner. So I've turned to the oven. Baking brown rice. There are a number of "rice bake" recipe in my recipe collection. But today, I thought I'd share a basic how to cook brown rice. Feel free to experiment with mixing in different spices and veggies. Here's the easy, side-dish, basic way to bake brown rice...