To start your day, I love this savory Congee. It’s packed with several powerhouse food herbs to nourish your body. Enjoy it plain, or with a cup of green tea as an easy way to start your day.

BASIC CONGEE RECIPE

• 1 cup short grain rice
• 10 cups broth (or you can use
• 10 cups water for making a breakfast congee)
•  1 tsp neutral oil (like coconut)

FOR SAVORY CONGEE (Optional for serving)

• 1 cup milk, either dairy or soy 
• Thinly sliced green onions
• Leftover shredded meat
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Julienned carrots
• Soy sauce
• Hot sauce
• Toasted sesame oil

Directions

1. In the bowl of a large slow-cooker, stir together 1 teaspoon of neutral oil and the short-grain rice until the rice grains are coated. Add the broth (or water) and stir to combine. Place the lid on the slow-cooker, turn heat to ‘LOW’ and allow to cook for 8 hours. Just prior to serving, bump the heat up to ‘HIGH’. If you’re using milk, stir it in now. Re-cover the slow-cooker and allow to cook for 30 minutes. Turn off the cooker, uncover and stir prior to serving.
   
   
2. Options
   1. Drizzle with a little toasted sesame oil, top with sliced green onions, add a few drops of Sriracha and chop a hard-boiled egg. This may not cure the cold, but it sure makes you feel better.
   2. Add chicken, scallions and some diced veggies (before or after cooking) and serve…
   3. Add ground meat, egg yolk, some diced garlic and veggies
      
      
3. Or to start your day, I love this sweet variation below called "8 Treasure Congee". It’s packed with several powerhouse food herbs to nourish your body. Enjoy with a cup of green tea as an easy way to start your day. I usually let this cook overnight and add a little milk of choice to replace part of the water.

In addition to your rice, add:

• ¼ C pearl barley
• 6-8 Chinese dates (aka hong zao or jujubes - if can’t get these you can use medjool dates)
• 1 cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon to taste
• 1” ginger root peeled and grated (can use powdered ginger as well)
• 1 t cardamom
• Gan cao (chinese licorice - about 6g)- this can be omitted if you can’t find it, star anise can be used if you like but it is an entirely different plant)
• Goji Berries (¼ C)
• Mulberries (¼ C)