To prepare brown rice, use 2 cups of water for each cup of brown rice, and salt to taste. Bring salted water to a boil, and stir in rice. Reduce heat to a minimal simmer, and cook tightly covered for 45 minutes or until all water has been absorbed into rice.
Brown rice and white rice have similar amounts of carbohydrate, kilojoules, fat and protein. The difference between the two lies in processing and nutritional content. If the outermost layer of a grain of rice (the husk) is removed, the result is brown rice. If the husk and the bran layer underneath are removed, the result is white rice. Several vitamins and dietary minerals are lost in this removal and the subsequent polishing process. One mineral that is not added back into white rice is magnesium; one cup (195 grams) of cooked long grain brown rice contains 84 mg of magnesium while one cup of white rice contains 19 mg.