Category Archives: Instant Pot

split pea soup

Instant Pot Split Pea Soup

by crockpot, Fall, food storage, Instant Pot, winter,

The recipe is originally from my book The Pantry Principle.  Back then it was designed for a slow cooker.  Now that we have Instant Pots the recipe has been modified.

This is a delicious way to utilize split peas from your food storage.  If necessary this recipe can be modified to also used dried vegetables from your storage however this will require the addition of extra liquid.  See the parenthetical notes in the recipe for food storage modifications.

The addition of the dulse, an edible seaweed found in the North Atlantic, to this recipe adds a wonderful flavor and a big boost of iodine and the other trace elements our bodies need. If you want to make this as a vegetarian dish simply substitute vegetable broth or water for the bone broth.

Making this soup in the Instant Pot is a great way to have a quick hot meal ready to eat after a long day.

split pea soup

Instant Pot Split Pea Soup

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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 2 carrots, diced (1 cup dehydrated carrot slices)
  • 2 ribs celery, diced (1/3 cup dehydrated celery)
  • 1 onion, diced (1/3 cup dried onion)
  • 1 pound dried split peas, picked over and washed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
  • 6 cups bone broth 
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • 2 tablespoons dulse (a type of seaweed), crumbled

Instructions
 

  • Place all ingredients except salt, pepper, and dulse in an Instant Pot. Stir well to combine. 
  • IP Cook Time 15 minutes  Natural Release approximately 15 minutes.
  • Slow Cooker Time - 8 hours on low
  • Remove bay leaf
  • Add salt and pepper
  • Blend together with an immersion blender
  • Ladle into bowls to serve and top with 1 teaspoon crumbled dulse

Buying The Best Slow Cooker For Your Kitchen

by crockpot, Instant Pot,

History of The Slow Cooker

 

When it comes to kitchen convenience the crock-pot, or slow cooker, is one of the best things ever invented.  That’s largely thanks to Irving Naxon who invented the slow cooking Naxon Beanery All-Purpose Cooker in the 1960’s while trying to reproduce his grandmother's cholent stew. 

Cholent is a traditional Jewish food, a stew, that’s made on Friday and set to slow cook for at a low heat until it it’s ready for dinner on Saturday night.  This allowed Jews who were highly observant to avoid turning on an oven or stove as doing so would be a contradiction to the requirement to rest on the Sabbath.  After Irving invented his slow cooking device The Rival Company wound up purchasing the rights to it in 1970.  Technically not all slow cookers are  crock pots.  That brand name is supposed to identify that it’s a Rival product.  All others are simply slow cookers.   If you want to learn more there’s a great podcast episode on Nice Try! - The Crock Pot.

 

Benefits of Slow Cooking

 

All these decades later the concept of a simple circular or oval cooking pot with a heated element is a useful and popular way to cook all over the world.  From simple high-low-off style cookers to multi-featured high-end models this device is great for making no-fuss one pot meals.  You set it in the morning and by dinnertime you have a hot and delicious meal ready to go.

A slow cooker is incredibly useful for taking tougher, usually less expensive, cuts of meat and making them very tender.  They’re also fabulous when it comes to cooking and shredding meat. Another wonderful benefit is the low energy usage.  The device uses about the same amount of energy as an incandescent light bulb (remember those?) which is considerably less than turning on your oven. Plus, because the inner pot is usually removable, a slow cooker is incredibly easy to clean up.  Note: I do not recommend using the disposable liners because these are made from plastic and not a good choice for food contact.

If you’re not sure how to use a slow cooker there are a lot of cookbooks that offer wonderful recipes.  Check out any bookstore and you’ll find dozens.  Chances are your local library has some you can borrow, and your neighborhood used book store may even have some as well.

 

Recipes

 

Here are a couple of great recipes that are super simple to throw together and let your slow-cooker do all the work.  The first one is my version of a cholent which is inspired by Jamie Geller’s Healthy Chicken Cholent.  The second is a Tex Mex Shredded Chicken that’s fabulous for making taco salads, burrito bowls, or just eating plain.

Chicken Cholent

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Ingredients
  

  • 2 pounds baby potatoes, diced
  • 2 pounds carrots, diced
  • 2 - 2 1/2 pounds bone in chicken (I like a combination of breasts and thighs), skin removed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon dry parsley
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 2 cups cooked chickpeas
  • 4 cups bone broth (*see recipe link below)

Instructions
 

  • Place potatoes and carrots in the bottom of a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker
  • Arrange chicken on top
  • Salt and pepper chicken to your preference
  • Top with onion, garlic, spices, and chickpeas
  • Add bone broth
  • Cover and cook on low for 12 hours or high for 6 hours
    Enjoy!

Notes

*Bone Broth

Tex-Mex Shredded Chicken

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Ingredients
  

  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (breasts or thighs) 
  • 1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, diced
  • 1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (depends on how hot you like it)
  • 4 cups of cooked black beans
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2-3 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions
 

  • Place chicken in the bottom of a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker
  • Add remaining ingredients except for limes and cilantro
  • Stir to combine all ingredients
  • Cook 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high
  • 30 minutes before you are done cooking remove the lid and shred the chicken with two forks
  • Stir to combine shredded chicken well
  • Cover and cook 30 minutes more
  • Add lime juice and cilantro and stir well
    Enjoy!

Evolution of the Slow Cooker

 

Although the original idea for a slow cooker started as a low temperature cooking solution for a one-pot meal, they’ve evolved considerably since then.  In fact, we now have the Instant Pot which is a multi-function cooker.  Now you can brown foods, sauté, boil soups or stews, steam and slow cook all in one device.

It’s possible to buy slow cookers in different sizes depending on what the needs are for your household.  When we were raising our kids I had three crock-pots, two large ones and a small one that was great for breakfast casseroles, overnight oatmeal, for appetizers, or for desserts.  Crockpots are fabulous for breakfast because the meal cooks while you’re sleeping and you wake up to a hot breakfast with very little effort.

Now that the kids are grown and out of the house I have my original crock-pot which is still going strong after 40 years.  The lid has been replaced, but the original device continues to help me easily make delicious meals for my family.  I’ve also got an Instant Pot at this point.  Initially I resisted it thinking I had a crock pot and didn’t need one.  But now that I have it I love the multi-function ability and find that I use both on a regular basis.

When it comes to picking the right device for your kitchen, take the time to think about what’s important to you.  What size is you family?  How often do you plan to use your slow cooker?  What kind of meals or dishes will you make in it?  By taking the time to research it you’ll find the best option for you.  And who knows, you may even find it’s so convenient that you’ll need more than one. 

Summer Vegetable Soup - The Ingredient Guru Recipe

Instant Pot Summer Vegetable Soup

by Instant Pot, Instant Pot, seasons, summer, vegetables

I love my Instant Pot

Ever since I got an Instant Pot® (IP) it has become my favorite appliance. I use it so much that I got tired of dragging it up from the cupboard under the counter and now it lives on my kitchen counter full-time.  It gets used regularly for a wide variety of dishes.  That includes for summer meals. 

Just because it's summertime doesn't mean that we should not eat soup. And while there are lots of delicious cold summer soups, like this amazing gazpacho, even hot soups can be a wonderful summertime dish because they take advantage of the season and what's fresh.  Of course just because we want to enjoy summer soups, doesn't mean we want the heat and humidity in our kitchen that comes along with cooking soup. That's where the instant pot is such an amazing kitchen tool. it takes so much less time and therefore adds less heat to the kitchen.

This recipe is so quick and easy to put together that it's sure to become one of your summertime (or anytime) favorites. And one of the best things about it is that it's actually a pretty flexible recipe. Don't have green beans? Use lima beans.  Or asparagus. Don't have zucchini, add mushrooms. You really can add a wide variety of vegetables to this.  (pssst…I've sometimes been known to clean out my crisper drawer by simply throwing a bunch of veggies into the instant pot, following the general proportions of this recipe, adding bone broth, herbs, and letting the IP do it's magic.)

Instant Pot Summer Vegetable Soup
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Ingredients
  1. 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  2. 3 cloves garlic, minced
  3. 4 large stalks celery, chopped
  4. 4 large carrots, sliced
  5. 1 medium red onion, chopped
  6. 1 cup green beans, cut into pieces
  7. 1 cup zucchini or summer squash, diced
  8. 8 cups bone broth
  9. 1 pound red potatoes, quartered
  10. 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
  11. 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
  12. 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
  13. 1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped
  14. 2 cups fresh baby greens such as kale, spinach or arugula
  15. Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
  16. 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  17. Parmesan cheese, freshly shaved or grated
Instructions
  1. Add olive oil to liner pot and set function to Sauté
  2. Add garlic, celery, carrots, and onion,
  3. Sauté until onion is wilting and golden in color, approximately 4-5 minutes
  4. Add green beans, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper
  5. Add bone broth and stir to combine
  6. Put on lid and lock into place, setting the vent to “Sealing”
  7. Set pot to “Manual” for 3 minutes
  8. When cooking time is finished, allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure
  9. Remove lid and add baby greens and lemon juice, stirring to combine well
  10. Serve immediately topped with freshly shaved or grated Parmesan cheese
  11. Enjoy!
The Ingredient Guru, Mira Dessy https://theingredientguru.com/

More delicious summer recipes

Here are a few more fabulous summertime recipes