Seitan with Kale and Pumpkin Salsa (waterless), served with Cauliflower Short-Grained Brown Rice (No Added Fat)

We don't often eat short-grained brown rice, but recently had it several times and enjoyed it. I thought I'd cook some short-grained brown rice with cauliflower; the long cook time for rice would soften and somewhat homogenize the cauliflower, I figured. Short-grained brown rice cooks in a 1 : 2 ratio of rice to water over 50m stovetop, but in a pressure cooker it cooks in a 1 : 1.25 ratio for only 22-28 minutes. I thought I'd try about 23m.

I had some Frontera brand chipotle pumpkin salsa (with a modest fat content of half a gram per 2 T) and thought I'd make a waterless seitan and greens dish. This is what I did:


Ingredients

• 1 cup short-grained brown rice
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup cauliflower chopped to 1/2" cubes
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/4 t salt
• Medium shallot cut into 1/4" thick half moons (about a half cup)
• 8 ounces seitan (I bought strips but if chunks, first slice into approximately 3/8" x 1 1/2" slices)
• 1 compressed cup kale leaves (not stems), roughly hand cut into approximately 1/2" squares
• 6T (3/8 of a cup) salsa

Process

1. I put the rice, water, cauliflower, bouillon cube, and salt in the Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 23m.
2. In the meantime, I put in my small Saladmaster stock pot, in this order, the shallot, seitan, and kale.
3. I covered the pot and cooked on medium heat for a few minutes until the vapor release began to jiggle, then I reduced the heat to low and cooked for 20m or so.
4. I let the pressure cooker cool a bit for a few minutes, then slowly let the pressure out.
5. I turned the heat to the pot off and removed the lid; I served my daughter then added the salsa to my wife and my portions (I call this dish no added fat as each serving just had 3/4 g of fat from this particular salsa), and served.
6. I fluffed up the rice dish and served, along with tomato and hemp seeds.

Results

Dinner was good! It's nice that rice can be made so quickly in the pressure cooker. The rice was done but I wonder if it would have been a little softer if it had more water. The combination of the rice and cauliflower was quite good - the cauliflower was soft and creamy. The seitan was predictably good and the nuance of pumpkin was welcome.

Ideas for the future

I should try the short-grained rice again in the pressure cooker. Perhaps adding not just a little more water but also a little more time may be helpful - perhaps 1 1/2 parts water per part rice, cooked for 25m?