Category Archives: winter garden

Best New Comfort Food: Juk

When it’s dreary and cold I always want chicken soup. It’s filling, hot and comforting and if you’re sick there’s nothing better. This version, based on the traditional Asian recipe, includes chard or kale to add taste and nutrition. If you still have some growing in your garden it’s a great way to use up tough stalks.

Juk, otherwise known as jook, congee, or rice porridge is super easy to make. It’s basically rice that is cooked over a long period of time until it breaks down and becomes thick and starchy. This updated recipe is made with brown rice and includes lemon, ginger, green onions and adds chard or kale for a seasonal twist. Be sure to add the green onions and sesame oil at the end, they are essential to the perfect taste balance.

Juk 

1 onion chopped

2 teaspoons of oil

1 cup brown rice

8 cups water

1 or 2 pieces of chicken, uncooked

1/2 teaspoon salt

juice of 1 lemon

1 inch of ginger root, peeled and minced

1 bunch of kale or chard, washed and chopped

1 bunch of green onions

sesame oil

Heat the oil over medium in a large stock pot, add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the rice, water, chicken, salt and lemon juice and bring to a boil over high heat. Once it boils, turn down  the heat and simmer half-covered for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. After 1.5 hours remove the chicken, cool, debone and chop, then return the chicken to the pot.  Continue cooking if desired. You can cook  it as long as 3-4 hours, the longer you cook the more the rice breaks down. Stir occasionally and add water as needed. 30 minutes before finishing, stir in the ginger and greens.

Serve hot with chopped green onions on top and a little sesame oil.

 

Winter Garden

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my backyard broccoli is pretty anemic, but I’m going to eat it anyway

The good news in my San Francisco backyard is that the weather is mild,  with no freezes. The bad news is it faces North, so everything grows in slow motion during the winter. My broccoli is pretty anemic, but chard does great, and so do greens and snow peas. Even though it’s barely rained all fall and winter, it’s so shady I really only water every couple of weeks.

some of my favorite greens: Miner's lettuce is a native that comes back every winter and it's tasty(left). Mustard greens are really good (center) and so is arugula (right)

some of my favorite greens: Miner’s lettuce is a native that comes back every winter and it’s tasty(left). Mustard greens are really good (center) and so is arugula (right)

Here’s tip: plant Miner’s lettuce. It’s a native plant that spreads like crazy over the winter and it’s really tasty. During the rest of the year it disappears. Another tip: plant pots of lettuces. I like spinach, arugula and mustard greens. They require almost no care and anytime you want a salad, it’s right there.

Chard

Chard grows great in the shade, just slowly.

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Snow peas are super easy to grow and don’t need much sun.

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I don’t mind sharing with these guys, they don’t eat much.

Another bonus to the winter greens, you’ll make some new friends.