Superwoman and her Instapot
Everyone I know who talks about their plans for weight loss, emphasizes what they don’t want to eat. On a personal level, I find this sort of denial-centric approach demotivating. Focusing on what I want to be eating, and all the active things that being stronger will help me to accomplish, keeps me feeling motivated and empowered! For me, the number one thing I try to eat every day are beans, legumes, and pulses. I used to feel like they took a lot of time and effort to cook correctly, but all that changed when I got an Instant Pot pressure cooker!
My Instant Pot pressure cooker has made me feel like Superwoman — I can make virtually any dish, quickly and easily, without having to keep an eye on it or getting a bunch of dishes dirty! Most recipes will work in the pressure cooker with only a tiny bit of tweaking.
I like to start by peeling and trimming all the veg for that day’s recipe and tossing them in the instant pot with water to cover*, for a simple vegetable stock. If I come up short, I pull spare offcuts out of the freezer to make up any shortfall. Even if veg has got a bit of grit, don’t worry! Just strain it later, don’t let the “perfect” be the enemy of the good!
Here’s a little guide to making great stock.
Include:
Peels and butts of virtually all root vegetables, including carrots, parsnips, beetroot, potatoes, and even super gnarly celeriac trimmings! Also, onion skins and roots, celery leaves, herb stems, and garlic skins and cloves that are too small to be worth using in a normal recipe. I’ve even used apple off cuts and they meld beautifully.
My favourite thing is to combine two recipes to make a new one; in this case, Aloo Gobi, and Tarka Dal, based on a recipe from Chill and Mint https://chilliandmint.com/2013/10/08/panch-phoron-bengali-five-spice-and-red-split-lentil-dal/. My combined version cooks Cauliflower and Potatoes for Aloo Gobi in water, using red lentils to naturally soak up the extra liquid as it cooks. This results in a satisfying, comforting, moreish, nutritious, virtually fat-free stew, that is naturally vegan and free from processed ingredients and almost every common allergen, including being gluten free. If all that sounds too good to be true, it’s also delicious, cheap as chips, and is on the table in about 25 minutes!Everything’s coming together nicelyInstant Pot Aloo Gobi-Tarka Dal Stew
Active time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
- 1 teaspoon Cooking fat of your choice
- Chilies
- Ginger
- Garlic
- 1 tablespoon Garam Masala
- 1 tablespoon Panch Phoron (Bengali five spice: equal parts fennel seed, cumin, fenugreek seed, black or brown mustard seed, and nigella/black onion seed)
- 1 head of Cauliflower, cut into large florets
- Roughly the same amount of Potatoes, cut to 1cm cubes
- 200g Red Lentils
- Water or stock (just to barely cover)*
- Salt
Sautee chilies, ginger, and garlic in a tiny bit of oil on the Instant Pot’s Saute setting for five minutes, add the garam masala and panch phoron and fry one more minute. Add all the rest of the ingredients and set Instant Pot to Manual for 3 minutes. Wait for five minutes after it finishes before releasing the pressure valve, and eat up!
*Pro Tip: for Instant Pot recipes, always add the water already boiled in a kettle, to cut down on the time it takes the pot to come up to pressure.
More from Kelly’s Kitchen with A trio of roasted veg.