Brussels Sprouts with Baby Lima Beans, Forbidden Rice Pad Thai Noodles with a touch of Peanut Satay Sauce, Grilled Artichoke Heart - Tomato Salad (No Added Fat)

Brussels Sprouts are on sale and I had a 1 pound bag of them. I thought that I'd use the Sprouts and cook them with baby lima beans, starting with a gentle saute of the Sprouts. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup onion, cut into 1/4" cubes
• 1 garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• 1 pound Brussels Sprouts (I counted 34), outer leaves and ends trimmed and then halved (almost 4 cups)
• 1/4 + 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 t salt
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 2 cups frozen baby lima beans
• 1 1/2 cups carrot (I used one large carrot) cut into approx. 3/8" slices
• 1/2 cumin seed
• 1/4 garlic powder
• 1/4 t turmeric
• 1 T dried chives
• 1/2 cups onion cut into 3/8" cubes

Process

1. I put the garlic, onion, and Brussels Sprouts into  my Instant Pot pressure cooker and used the saute function to saute, waterlessly, frequently stirring, on low for about 5 minutes till the onion was lightly browned.
2. I added 1/4 cup water, salt, and the bouillon cube, and reduced the saute to low. I continued stirring but less frequently for about 3-4 minutes until the water was absorbed.
3. I then added 1/2 cup water, the lima beans, carrot, cumin seed, garlic powder, turmeric, and chives; I mixed and cooked on low pressure for 3m.
4. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the onion.

I made a grilled artichoke heart - tomato salad with black pepper, ume plum vinegar, and lemon juice. As a side, I had some organic forbidden rice pad thai noodles (just brown and black rices; it cooks in a 5m boil), which I served. I had a little peanut satay sauce leftover; my family loves the sauce. I put a little sauce on their noodles and even less on mine (I was going to  call dinner "almost no added fat" but I put so little sauce on that I'll go with "no added fat").

Results

We all enjoyed dinner. The main course was better than I expected but a little softer than I had wished for.

Ideas for the future

I should try cooking Brussels Sprouts this way again, but should go with just 1 or 2 minutes of low pressure cooking.