Healthy Recipe to Try: Brown Rice Champorado

Never thought champorado, your fave rainy day eat, could be healthy? This recipe uses brown rice and coconut sugar, plus walnuts for added texture:

Brown Rice Champorado with Walnuts

Serves 4
361 calories per serving

2 cups low-fat milk
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 cups brown rice, cooked
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
coocnut milk, for drizzling
1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped


1 In a casserole, heat one cup low-fat milk over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until completely dissolved.

2 Add brown rice, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Turn off heat.

3 Coarsely puree the rice mixture in a food processor.

4 Transfer the rice back into the casserole. Add remaining milk, coconut sugar, and cinnamon. Bring to a simmer. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes until you reach a thick consistency.

5 Drizzle with coconut milk and sprinkle with walnuts.

The recipe is part of The Sexy Chef Cookbook: Eat Clean Love, a new cookbook  by sisters and local health food industry pioneers Rachel Alejandro and Chef Barni Alejandro-Renneback.

Filled with 60 new recipes for people who want to "eat sexy," the cookbook has breakfast options to jumpstart your day with, nutritious takes on Filipino favorites, and low-carb meals to help you slim down. Also in the cookbook are recipes for vegetarian dishes and refreshing smoothies that are perfect for those seeking to eat clean.

Now on its 11th year, The Sexy Chef is a diet and health food provider, serving a growing clientele of healthy eaters in the metro. Founders Rachel and Barni have expanded their brand since its launch in 2004: they've published The Sexy Chef Cookbook in 2013, they co-host The Sexy Chef Cooking Show which airs on the Colours channel on Cignal Digital TV every Sunday at 8pm.

The Sexy Chef Cookbook: Eat Clean Love is now available in bookstores, newsstands, convenience stores, and supermarkets nationwide for P295.