Congee in a crockpot

I made up the best congee recipe this weekend. While I like to cook, it takes up time and energy, so I make a lot of food in a slow cooker and eat it all week. Congee is a savory rice porridge or soup, depending on how thick or thin you make it. This week, I needed something easy on the digestion this week as I get over an illness. Here’s my congee recipe!

* 1/2 cup long-grain rice
* 4 cups chicken broth
* 1 cup water
* 1 chicken breast, boneless/skinless
* A handful of baby spinach, torn in pieces
* A few sheets of seaweed (I used the toasted Korean kind)
* 1/2 tsp cumin
* 2 bay leaves

Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 3 hours. When it’s done, use a spatula or a fork to shred the chicken into little pieces and mix the congee.

This was really tasty, thick, creamy congee. I’ve been eating it with a little extra seaweed on top, or extra salt.

It’s a super easy recipe, with no chopping or special preparation. This is the best kind of recipe! Throw everything into one pot, and wait. No chance of burning the dinner or ruining things. And really, you could throw anything into the pot. Since I don’t always have fresh veggies, I was thinking that canned corn would be a good variation next time I make congee.

Crockpots or slow cookers are ideal for life on a houseboat. They don’t take a lot of power and there aren’t a lot of pots and pans to wash. If you are disabled or have a chronic illness, I think that slow cookers are a really good, simple, lifestyle change that you can make to save your own energy for things that are more crucial, like having fun. Unless you think cooking and washing up are really fun, which I don’t.

Moomin would not try the congee because he thought it looked like barf. He prefers plain rice that he can eat with seaweed, kim bap style, and some chicken nuggets made in the toaster oven, and I’m okay with that.