So, I got an instant pot. On Amazon Prime day. It was a super duper deal. If you don't know what this is, you have been living under a rock.
It's a 6-in-1 or 7-in-1 combo appliance which is the best thing since sliced bread. Or so they say. I heard lots about it forever and ever, before I finally bought one. It's a Canadian invention, I think. So, thanks!
Why did you need one? Good question. I already have a crock pot, a rice cooker, a yogurt maker, and two pressure cookers. Did I get rid of those? Of course not.
Anyway, unfortunately I haven't tried a lot of things, because I'm too busy to try new recipes. Thanks baseball. And full time job.
What I *have* been using it for is recipes that I already made and liked, and adjusted. The instant pot has been great for cooking dried beans (without paying attention to a pressure cooker). I haven't tried yogurt (too busy for that). I have a great recipe for Mediterranean chickpeas and rice - I used to make it in the stovetop pressure cooker, but I had issues with burning. Perfect in the instant pot.
So here's the magic: one pot pasta. I've waxed about how awesome this is before. Problem is: it sticks to the bottom of my enamel cast iron dutch oven. When I got the instant pot, I googled pasta. I found a bunch of recipes. I merged them together to try and match what I was already doing.
And so here it is, with one caveat: I've never done it. It's totally my husband's meal, usually on Thursday but sometimes Monday. I decided to blog it in case we accidentally throw away the back of the envelope that it is written on.
One (instant) pot pasta:
1/2 an onion, diced
other veggies as desired, diced
olive oil
1 24-oz jar of spaghetti sauce
1 24-oz jar of water
12 ounces of pasta (I use penne, fusilli, whole wheat works well too)
frozen meatballs (I think we use about 1/2 bag, so 8-12 ounces)
1. Turn on the instant pot to saute. Add oil and onion and veg, saute until soft.
2. Add pasta, sauce, water, and meatballs
3. Press cancel on the pot to stop saute
4. Close lid, make sure vent is turned to "close"
5. Press "Manual"
6. Set time to 5 minutes
It will start on its own. Heat up, get to pressure, cook 5 min at pressure. When done, let it natural release for 10 mins (counts down too), then open vent for quick release.
Enjoy.
Now, if you are a pasta snob...keep walking. This absorbs the sauce into the pasta. It's delicious. It's easy. The kids love it. It's not fancy. It won't come out al dente. It's a bit mushier than the standard 1-pot pasta. But I don't care.
Showing posts with label pressure cooker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pressure cooker. Show all posts
Monday, March 20, 2017
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Applesauce. Pressure cooker stew
Boy, have I been using my kitchen tools. Blender for smoothies. Rice cooker for quinoa. Food processor for shredding and chopping. Immersion blender for applesauce. Pressure cooker for beans and stew. Slow cooker for applesauce. I mean, I don't *need* all these tools, but they make cooking easier for sure!
Monday, I arrived at my desk to find a bag of apples, with a note "Can Frugal Healthy Simple do something with these baking apples?" Why, of course Lori, I can. So that evening, I googled "slow cooker applesauce", and then winged it.
Slow cooker applesauce:
9-10 small to medium apples, unpeeled, diced (I like the peel, it's got fiber): free
1/2 cup water: 0
2 Tbsp brown sugar (didn't need it): 0.05
1 tsp cinnamon: 0.05
pinch nutmeg
juice of 1/2 lemon (which wasn't enough to prevent browning, so it was wasted): 0.10
Total: $0.20 for probably 5 cups of applesauce. And it's tasty. I've been eating it with my morning oatmeal. I will probably freeze some.
Put in slow cooker. Cook overnight or all day on low. Use immersion blender to blend.
-------------------------------------------------------
I also found some pork in the freezer, and looked up a recipe in America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. But I was missing a bunch of stuff. So. I improvised. It was a mid-week meal, which is why I tried out the pressure cooker. Last minute, I realized they recommended serving it with white rice (which I don't buy), so I used quinoa instead. The original recipe called for 3 lbs pork and 1 lb chorizo. I used 1 lb pork, plus chickpeas, plus potatoes. I subbed mild enchilada sauce for diced tomatoes. You see where I am going here. The recipe called for browning the meat, then browning the onions, then...and I wanted a one pot meal. So I changed that too.
Pressure cooker stew:
1 lb pork loin, diced into 1 inch cubes: 1.99
1 T. canola oil: 0.04
2 onions, diced: 0.40
6 cloves garlic, pressed: 0.30
3 Tbsp flour: 0.01
1.5 cups water
1 Tbsp brown sugar: 0.02
2 cups cooked chickpeas: 0.37
1 vegetable bouillon cube: 0.37
1.5 cups mild enchilada sauce: 0.75
3/4 lb potatoes, peeled and diced: 0.38
salt/pepper to taste
Total: $4.63 for 6 servings.
Quinoa: 1 cup dry quinoa, cooked (makes about 3 cups): $0.55
$0.86 per serving, including quinoa
Brown the onion and pork in oil in pressure cooker. Add garlic and cook 1 min.
Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for a minute.
Add water and bouillon and stir, stirring to get up the brown bits on the bottom. Add the enchilada sauce and brown sugar. Cover, bring to pressure, and reduce heat enough to maintain high pressure. Cook 13 min at high pressure.
Use quick release to lower pressure. Add diced potatoes and chickpeas. Return to heat. Cover, bring to pressure. Cook 8 min at high pressure. Let pressure reduce naturally.
Serve over quinoa.
And I made a salad with some pumpkin seeds that we roasted on top.
Monday, I arrived at my desk to find a bag of apples, with a note "Can Frugal Healthy Simple do something with these baking apples?" Why, of course Lori, I can. So that evening, I googled "slow cooker applesauce", and then winged it.
Slow cooker applesauce:
9-10 small to medium apples, unpeeled, diced (I like the peel, it's got fiber): free
1/2 cup water: 0
2 Tbsp brown sugar (didn't need it): 0.05
1 tsp cinnamon: 0.05
pinch nutmeg
juice of 1/2 lemon (which wasn't enough to prevent browning, so it was wasted): 0.10
Total: $0.20 for probably 5 cups of applesauce. And it's tasty. I've been eating it with my morning oatmeal. I will probably freeze some.
Put in slow cooker. Cook overnight or all day on low. Use immersion blender to blend.
-------------------------------------------------------
I also found some pork in the freezer, and looked up a recipe in America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. But I was missing a bunch of stuff. So. I improvised. It was a mid-week meal, which is why I tried out the pressure cooker. Last minute, I realized they recommended serving it with white rice (which I don't buy), so I used quinoa instead. The original recipe called for 3 lbs pork and 1 lb chorizo. I used 1 lb pork, plus chickpeas, plus potatoes. I subbed mild enchilada sauce for diced tomatoes. You see where I am going here. The recipe called for browning the meat, then browning the onions, then...and I wanted a one pot meal. So I changed that too.
Pressure cooker stew:
1 lb pork loin, diced into 1 inch cubes: 1.99
1 T. canola oil: 0.04
2 onions, diced: 0.40
6 cloves garlic, pressed: 0.30
3 Tbsp flour: 0.01
1.5 cups water
1 Tbsp brown sugar: 0.02
2 cups cooked chickpeas: 0.37
1 vegetable bouillon cube: 0.37
1.5 cups mild enchilada sauce: 0.75
3/4 lb potatoes, peeled and diced: 0.38
salt/pepper to taste
Total: $4.63 for 6 servings.
Quinoa: 1 cup dry quinoa, cooked (makes about 3 cups): $0.55
$0.86 per serving, including quinoa
Brown the onion and pork in oil in pressure cooker. Add garlic and cook 1 min.
Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for a minute.
Add water and bouillon and stir, stirring to get up the brown bits on the bottom. Add the enchilada sauce and brown sugar. Cover, bring to pressure, and reduce heat enough to maintain high pressure. Cook 13 min at high pressure.
Use quick release to lower pressure. Add diced potatoes and chickpeas. Return to heat. Cover, bring to pressure. Cook 8 min at high pressure. Let pressure reduce naturally.
Serve over quinoa.
And I made a salad with some pumpkin seeds that we roasted on top.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Kinda Cuban Black Beans
I had a bag of black beans. Decided to cook them in the pressure cooker. Found a couple of recipes, combined them and adjusted them based on what I had on hand. Tasty! Ate just a bit last night for dinner, rest for lunches this week.
Kinda Cuban Black Beans - pressure cooker
2 c. dry black beans (slightly less than a pound): 1.00
1 onion, diced: 0.15
1 bell pepper, diced: 0.90 (used yellow, toddler picked it out at the farmer's market and ate a bite on the way home)
3 cloves garlic: 0.15
couple Tbsp of diced hot pepper (I used stuff I froze last summer): 0.25
2.5 c. water (in addition to soaking water)
1 tsp cumin: 0.05
1 tsp oregano: 0.05
1 tsp black pepper
2 T. sugar: 0.05
2 T. vinegar: 0.03
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf: 0.02
1T. canola oil: 0.03
lime zest (had some in the freezer)
Total: $2.68 for 6 cups, or $0.33 for a 3/4 cup serving.
Soak the beans 6-8 hours. Drain and rinse.
Saute onion in oil in crockpot until soft. Add garlic, bell pepper, hot pepper, cumin, oregano, black pepper and saute one minute more. Add water.
Bring to boiling. Add black beans and bay leaf. Cover, bring to high heat. When the cooker reaches pressure, reduce heat to keep pressure level. Cook at high pressure 10 min. Remove from heat, let pressure reduce naturally. Remove lid carefully.
Add salt, sugar, vinegar, and lime zest. Yum!
This took all of 15 active minutes of cooking time. My kinda recipe.
Kinda Cuban Black Beans - pressure cooker
2 c. dry black beans (slightly less than a pound): 1.00
1 onion, diced: 0.15
1 bell pepper, diced: 0.90 (used yellow, toddler picked it out at the farmer's market and ate a bite on the way home)
3 cloves garlic: 0.15
couple Tbsp of diced hot pepper (I used stuff I froze last summer): 0.25
2.5 c. water (in addition to soaking water)
1 tsp cumin: 0.05
1 tsp oregano: 0.05
1 tsp black pepper
2 T. sugar: 0.05
2 T. vinegar: 0.03
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf: 0.02
1T. canola oil: 0.03
lime zest (had some in the freezer)
Total: $2.68 for 6 cups, or $0.33 for a 3/4 cup serving.
Soak the beans 6-8 hours. Drain and rinse.
Saute onion in oil in crockpot until soft. Add garlic, bell pepper, hot pepper, cumin, oregano, black pepper and saute one minute more. Add water.
Bring to boiling. Add black beans and bay leaf. Cover, bring to high heat. When the cooker reaches pressure, reduce heat to keep pressure level. Cook at high pressure 10 min. Remove from heat, let pressure reduce naturally. Remove lid carefully.
Add salt, sugar, vinegar, and lime zest. Yum!
This took all of 15 active minutes of cooking time. My kinda recipe.
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