Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Stew with Greens and Undertone of Pear, served with Madagascar Pink Rice with Broccoli (No Added Fat)

As I described earlier this week, I've been thinking of cooking with pears in the pressure cooker. I had some leftover pumpkin from that earlier meal, and used it for tonight's dinner.

Ingredients

• 2 cups pumpkin (ours was organic, so we left the skin on), cut into 3/4" cubes
• 1 cup onion (approximately half of a medium onion) cut into 1/4" x 1" half moons
• I had wanted to use a packed cup of kale leaves (stems removed) chopped into maybe 1/2" squares, but only had 3 leaves - I used the 3 leaves but also used a cup of spinach
• Medium sweet potato cut into 1/4" cubes (1 cup)
• 1 medium pear (a firm and ideally not yet quite ripe one - I used an anjou, but a bosc would have worked well, too) cut into 1/4" cubes (approx. 1 cup)
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/3 cup water
• Approx. 1/4 t salt
• Approx. 1/4 t dried oregano

Process

I put all of the ingredients into my Instant Pot. I have never used the timer feature and actually put the ingredients in a few hours before dinner, and had it start after two hours (timing is not so critical as the unit goes into a keep-warm mode once done) and then run for 3 minutes under high pressure. Then I served - simple! I also made a Madagascar Pink rice dish with onion and small pieces of broccoli.

Results

Wow, the main course was excellent! It's amazing what three minutes of pressure cooking can do. This was one of my favorite meals in the recent past. We all enjoyed it. The pear worked better than I dared hope - if a cube was eaten by itself, one may recognize it as a pear. But in the dish, it really contributed some subtle undertones and a bit of moistness. My hunch to try pear was a good one. The broccoli went great with the rice, as well.

Ideas for the future

I'd like to explore more dishes with pear as a side note - and, for that matter, other fruits, like perhaps Asian pear, banana, or kiwi. Tonight's meal was a winner!