I have vegetables coming out my ears, thanks to a generous microgarden and a biweekly CSA share from a local organic garden. I have stir-fried, baked, boiled, steamed, sizzled, sautéed, julienned, pressed, and pickled — and have enjoyed all of it. 🙂
I was trying to use what I had on hand, and it just so happened a soothing pot of congee was in my culinary stars. 🙂 From this box, I was able to use the carrots, yellow onion, shallot, and green bell pepper. I think maybe this is the BEST congee I’ve made thus far. NOTE: Fish Congee, Recipe #1.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 cup broken jasmine rice ~ uncooked, rinsed twice, drained
- 3 large fillets of white fish (I used Vietnamese Swai) ~ washed, cut into large chunks
- 1 bunch chive flowers ~ washed, cut off about 2″ of the ends, then cut the rest into 1″ sections
- 1 bunch organic cilantro ~ washed, chopped
- 3 sprig scallions ~ washed, chopped
- 4-5 organic carrots ~ washed, chopped
- 1 large organic yellow onion ~ peeled, washed, sliced
- 1 organic purple shallot ~ peeled, washed, sliced
- 1 handful garlic cloves (yes!) ~ prepeeled, smashed
- 1 handful dried, sliced shallots ~ I get this @ the Asian market
- 1-2 organic green bell pepper ~ washed, seeds & stems removed, chopped
- 1/2 cup vegetable soup seasoning
- salt & pepper to taste
- organic cane sugar to taste
- olive oil
- 10 cups filtered water
DIRECTIONS:
- In a large stainless steel pot, heat the olive oil on medium-high. Sauté the garlic, yellow onion, purple shallot, and carrots until an aromatic, golden brown.
- Add the fish and sauté until mostly cooked.
- Add the uncooked rice and dried shallots; stir all the ingredients for about 5 minutes.
- Add all 10 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil. Once it starts to roll, turn the heat back down to medium-high. (skim the broth as it boils and discard that foamy byproduct)
- Stir in the salt, sugar, and veggie seasoning. Turn the heat to low-medium and place the lid on, allowing the soup to simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the stove.
- Stir in the green bell peppers, scallions, chive flowers, and cilantro.
- Serve garnished with freshly ground black pepper and chopped cilantro.
