Nourishing Comfort Food

"Mom, this is delicious!"

That’s what I heard all during dinner recently.

I still can’t believe something this easy, healthy, and affordable is a hit with my family.

It’s called congee. It’s a rice dish. It's ideal for those with health issues because it is so good for the digestion.

As an added bonus it’s a warm meal, which is great for heating the digestive tract, especially during the cold winter months.

We have congee every morning, and Friday night we had a new version for dinner.

The basic recipe for congee is as follows:

1 c. rinsed brown rice (We also use white jasmine at times.)
7-9 c. water (We like 7 cups. You can use as many as 12 cups.)
Cook for 6-8 hours.
*Coat the crockpot with oil and use hot water to avoid sticking.

I double this every night and cook it all night in a crockpot. That means 2 cups of rice feeds our family of 11.

Historians say congee was first used during a famine as early as 210 B.C.

The rice expands and becomes a porridge. You can add berries, cinnamon, and honey if needed.

For lunch or dinner, use chicken broth instead of water. Until I learned to make my own chicken broth, I used a boxed organic version with no additives.

Here's the recipe I used the other night for Chicken Congee:

8 c. unsalted chicken stock
1 c. rice
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbs. grated fresh ginger
1 tbs. soy sauce (I used Coconut Aminos)
2 c. chicken meat
2 c. bok choy, coarsely chopped, or nappa cabbage

Congee has become our true comfort food. One of my older daughters traveled recently and borrowed a slow cooker to make congee in her hotel room.

For a more detailed description of congee, see this article.