Instant Pot Basics

I believe an Instant Pot is one of the more useful kitchen appliances. You can make practically any food in close to half the time compared to conventional ways (in the oven, on the stove, etc). Pressure cookers are especially helpful to vegans. We can easily make big batches of our staple foods including potatoes, rice, quinoa, oatmeal, beans, lentils, etc. The Instant Pot makes cooking super easy and fast. You can leave it and forget it. There are so many presets for all kinds of foods or you can set the timer manually. I feel like food just tastes better when it is made from an Instant Pot. Here is the exact one that I have. 

Potatoes:

Ingredients: 

• 5-10 potatoes (depending on size of pressure cooker) 

• 1 cup of water

Directions:

1. Was and scrub potatoes but leave skin on

2. Place wire rack in the base of instant pot
3. Pour water into cooking pot
4. Add potatoes onto the rack
5. Close lid and sure vent to the "sealed" position
6. Select the Manual button to set time to 10 minutes on high
7. After timer goes off, let pressure release naturally (about 20 minutes) 
8. Add your favorite toppings and seasonings
9. Enjoy! 

Steel Cut Oats:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of water
• 1 cup of non-dairy milk (or you can just use 3 cups of water)
• 1 cup of steel cut oats
• 2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
• 4 tbs sweetener of choice (maple syrup, agave, stevia, vegan brown sugar, coconut sugar, etc)

Directions:

1. Add the water and non-dairy milk to the pressure cooker
2. Then stir in the oats and the flavors if you wish
3. Lock the lid and put the vent in the "sealed" position
4. Set the timer for 3 minutes on high pressure with the manual function 
5. Once the time is up let the pressure release naturally (takes about 15-20 minutes)
6. Remove the lid and add in the sweetener of choice
7. Serve right away or save for later in the week!