Pressure Cooking 101: Cooking Beans, Rice, and Wheat Berries
Okay, I hope you’re loving all the videos so far because today we’re getting into the really fun stuff and there are THREE more videos! (If you missed the first day of this class, make sure you click HERE so you don’t miss a thing!) You’ll be able to see for yourself how EASY it is to start cooking basic items in your pressure cooker to save you time in the kitchen! Check out the videos below to see just how easy it is to cook beans, rice, and wheat berries in a pressure cooker. Make sure if you have a different pressure cooker than I do that you reference YOUR owner’s manual for specific times and measurements for these items. I’ve also added some homework items for you (yes, I said homework! I want you to actually TRY these concepts for yourself!) they are fun recipes you can try that I like to use OR you can try your own recipe. Make sure to leave a comment with successes and questions so we all can learn from each other!
COOKING BEANS IN AN ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER
HOMEWORK RECIPES TO TRY:
Low-Fat Blueberry Muffins
Low-fat Pumpkin Brownies
COOKING RICE IN AN ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER
HOMEWORK RECIPES TO TRY:
NEW! Fried Rice
NEW! Hawaiian Meatballs and Rice
COOKING WHEAT BERRIES IN AN ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER
HOMEWORK RECIPES TO TRY:
Wheat Berry Salad with Apples & Cashews
Feta Wheat Berry Salad
Hawaiian Meatballs & Rice: Rice Food Storage Recipes
This is my new favorite done in 15 minutes meal (when I make my rice in the pressure cooker)! It tastes great, is kid friendly, and works for company as well. It’s this easy…
HAWAIIAN MEATBALLS & RICE
(use as many of the ingredients as you’ll need to feed your family)
Rice
Meatballs
Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce (or any other BBQ sauce…that is just my favorite)
Pineapple Tidbits, drained
Cook Rice. While rice is cooking, cook meatballs. After meatballs are cooked toss and coat with bbq sauce and pineapple tidbits and warm through.
Fried Rice: Rice Food Storage Recipes
This recipe is so good that I don’t even wait until I have leftover rice to make it! Sometimes, I’ll just pressure cook up some rice and serve it with pot stickers from Costco. So easy, so fun, and SO DELICIOUS!
FRIED RICE (Chinese Leftovers)
3 green onions cut on the diagonal thin (part tops too)
3 C Cold cooked rice
3 oz or 1/3 C Pork (or try for 1 Cup chopped left over meat about like ham, pork, chicken
1/2 C raw chopped shrimp-optional (If you use drained canned shrimp, decrease the salt)
left over cooked vegetables like peas and carrots (Optional)
3 Eggs, whisked (Sorry, no powdered egg conversion for this…it doesn’t work well)
4 T oil
1 T soy sauce
If using raw shrimp, dip in 1 tsp corn starch and fry in 2 T oil. Cook until done and remove from Wok or frying pan.
You may want to crisp other meat too.
Add the Eggs, Oil, and Soy Sauce and beat together. Add to hot wok, when it starts to set, add meat, rice, vegetables, 2 tsp salt, toss, add green onions, toss and serve.
Easy Gourmet Pomegranate Chicken: Rice Food Storage Recipe
If you’re like me, you agonize over what to cook for a group gathering or…your in-laws! With the holidays approaching, chances are you’ll be doing some entertaining or maybe even playing host to your in-laws and you’ll be wondering what fabulous holiday dish you can prepare with all you have going on. Well, last night I found just that dish! It highlights pomegranate, which is the new “in” food with all of it’s anti-oxidant powers and delicious taste, and is a PERFECT festive holiday food. This meal should be started in the morning (since it needs to marinate) which means less prep time for you in the evening when it all needs to be made. My suggestion is to get as much ready in the morning as you can while you’re getting the chicken marinating so when it’s time for dinner, you’ll look like super woman just tossing a few things together to make such a fabulous meal that will seem to your guests like you slaved in the kitchen all day for. I’ve included the recipe and what to do in the morning and evening and how to put it together for presenation. Here’s to very successful entertaining by YOU! Good luck!
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Pomegranate Chicken
1 c. unsweetened pomegranate juice (from about 5 large pomegranates or from store bought juice)
3 T. soy sauce
1/2 t. dry rosemary (or about double for fresh)
1/2 t. fresh grated ginger (I don’t peel mine and you can freeze leftover whole ginger in your freezer, just grate what you need)
2 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (really the richness of thigh meat is needed in this recipe)
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/3 c. pomegranate seeds (optional)
fresh rosemary or parsley sprigs
In a 9×13 baking dish, combine pomegranate juice, soy sauce, rosemary, ginger, and garlic. Coat chicen wit marinade. Cover, refrigerate 8 hours or over night.
Drain off and reserve marinade. Arrange chicken pieces slightly apart in baking dish. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven about 30-45 minutes, basting occasionally with marinade. (Your chicken will be dyed red due to the pomegranate juice so you’ll want to use a thememometer for doneness, it should be 165)
Transfer chicken to platter and keep warm. Then pour drippings into a 1 1/2-2 qt. pan, stir in cream. Bring to boil over high heat and boil rapidly until sauce is slightly thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup. Spoon sauce evenly over chicken. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and rosemary sprigs. Serve over Pomegranate Rice.
Pomegranate Rice
2 green onions, chopped with the tops (cut the white in half and shop horizontally)
1 T. butter
1 c. long grain rice
2 t. grated fresh ginger
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. roasted salted pistachio nuts, shelled (or you could sub in coarsely chopped cashews)
1 c. pomegranate seeds
lemon peel strips (optional)
In large saucepan cook green onions in hot butter over medium heat 3-5 minutes or just until tender, stirring occasionally. Add rice, ginger, and cinnamon. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until rice begins to brown.
Carefully add broth to rice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer covered, 14 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.
Stir in nuts and pomegranate seeds. Sprinkle with lemon peel.
Putting both recipes together:
In the morning do the following:
- grate 2 1/2 t. fresh ginger (using 1/2 t. for the marinade and reserving 2 t. for the rice)
- get chicken in marinade and soaking in your fridge for 8 hours
- open pomegranate and empty seeds (you’ll need 1 1/3 c.- 1 c. for the rice and 1/3 c. for the chicken)
- chop 2 green onions and place in the fridge for later
- check and make sure you’ve all the needed ingredients (running to the store in the morning is a lot easier than doing it while you’re making dinner)
In the evening:
- Get your chicken cooking
- Start your rice
- While the rice is cooking prepare side dishes (I did asparagus and artichokes- but you could do nice salad, green beans, etc.)
Presentation:
On a large platter overlap chicken thighs around the edge. Fill the center with rice. Pour chicken sauce over chicken and garnish with pomegranate seeds. Place sprigs of rosemary in between the chicken thighs and one in the center of the rice. Place lemon strips on top of rice.
