Oat Congee

Congee, a popular Chinese breakfast, is basically a soupy bowl of rice with bits of this or that floated on top. My wife likes hers with Chinese style pickled cucumber, strands of dried meat, or fermented black beans. Many people like salted peanuts on their congee. The idea here is to offset the blandness of the rice with little toothsome bits of whatever. Click here for a recipe.

This is the good part. A friend of ours wanted to get her cholesterol down. And here's what she did: Oatmeal is considered a cholesterol killer. Our friend made her congee with oatmeal instead of rice and ate it for six months. And you know what? Her cholesterol dropped.

I used to use yogurt instead of milk for my oatmeal since yogurt doesn't bother my lactose intolerance. Today I tried oatmeal congee and loved it. Oatmeal gives congee a texture and taste missing in rice congee. Oatmeal congee, like Susan Stamberg's recipe for cranberry relish, may sound awful, but try it. You'll like it. You'll see.