Chestnuts & Brown Rice

I don't know the glycemic load of chestnuts but I can imagine them being somewhat high. They turn sweet when cooked and that tells me the sweetness is from cooked starch. So that's a caution against indulgence. That said, I sometimes pass chestnuts sellers on the side of the road. There are 2 main kinds of chestnut stalls. The most common kind of chestnut sellers roast the nuts over flaming charcoal briquets while the infrequent seller lets the customer choose whether they want the nuts heated in the hot pebble vats or to buy them raw. Raw is the only option for me as the charcoal singes the starch and also flavors the nut with smoke, and both blackened starch and smoke need to avoided as they feed the bacteria. However, I read somewhere that eating chestnuts raw, even though they are rich in vitamin C and heating destroys that vitamin C, causes some kind of intestinal problems (sorry, can't remember the specifics). So I bought a bag of freshly shaved chestnuts from my favorite chestnut stall around the corner, and chopped them up to make a very tasty Thanksgiving-like rice. I certainly wouldn't do this very often but eaten this once and in moderation with lots of fresh vegies to counterbalance the heavier glycemic load is acceptable for me today, Thanksgiving! What a nice treat!


Wow, does rice ever taste good with chestnuts mixed in. I really liked wrapping spoonfuls of rice in lettuce and other leaves and just enjoying the natural sweet flavor complementing the nutty brown rice flavor. I'm very much inclined to think that chestnuts and brown rice together make a complete protein, so with a big plate of leaves on the side, I've just had my Thanksgiving feast. [I'll have the big vegan, low-glycemic feed this weekend with friends ... oh yum and fun!]