A running friend of mine who happens to be a doctor and a fitness fanatic talked me into switching to brown rice. On a morning run a few months ago, we were chatting when dinner came up -- I proudly told him that I have successfully changed my family over to brown rice and that we actually liked it better.

"The kind that takes like an hour to make, right?" He said.

"Uh...no, I buy the 5-minute brown rice," I said.

"No, no, no...it's not the same. It's still refined...nutrients are lost -- you want the stuff that comes in a plastic bag that takes an hour to cook," he said.

An hour? Really?

So, I bought it and, honestly, we all like it better. It has a lot more flavor (though it is a lot chewier than white rice).

But the one-hour cook time makes it really inconvenient for meal preparation. The last thing we have when we get home at 6 p.m. with two starving children is an hour to wait for rice.

This morning I read a great tip in Good Housekeeping magazine from Marie Simmons, author of "Rice, the Amazing Grain:"

"Combine the rice and measured-out cooking liquid in a saucepan; cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, heat the rice and remaining liquid (some of it will have been absorbed) on high to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 20 minutes, until rice is tender."

From an hour of cook time to 20 minutes -- I'll take that. I plan to give it a try later this week.