Experimenting with Chinese Vegetables Sweet Conehead Cabbage and Celtuce (with Field Peas) (No Added Fat)

O'Connor Sweet Potato with Yukon Gold Potato, Brussels Sprouts, Peas, and Bell Pepper (No Added Fat)

I was excited to try O'Connor sweet potatoes that I found in the store a day or two ago. We love Japanese sweet potatoes, and these, also with white flesh, are supposed to be similar. My daughter and I were heading out to a Nutcracker performance from a troupe from Moscow, so I had to put dinner together quickly. My daughter doesn't like onions and I use them commonly, but decided to put a meal together tonight without onions. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 3 Sweet potatoes
• 3 Yukon Gold potatoes
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 - 1 cup Brussels sprouts (fresh or frozen; I used frozen)
• 1/2 cup bell pepper slices (about 1/4" x 3/4"; fresh or frozen as above)
• 1 cup green peas (fresh or frozen as above)
• Seasoning to taste (see notes)

Process

1. I put the sweet potatoes (one per person, so three for my family), along with Yukon Gold potatoes (also one per person) and water, in my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked on high pressure steam for 20m.
2. I put the rest of the ingredients except the seasoning (i.e., the remaining vegetables) in a small Saladmaster stock pan and cooked waterlessly - i.e., I heated the pan on medium high, covered, until the vapor release valve started jiggling, then reduced the heat to low to mostly stop the jiggling, and let it cook for about 15m.
3. When the pressure cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then removed the sweet potatoes and potatoes.
1. I cut out two little triangle indentations 1/3 and 2/3 up the length of the sweet potatoes.
2. I cut the Yukon Gold potatoes into 3/4" cubes or so.
4. I put a sweet potato on each plate and surrounded it with the potato cubes.
5. I mixed in a little salt to the waterlessly cooked vegetables and spread atop the sweet potatoes.
6. I put a tablespoon or bit more of salsa as part of the seasoning atop the sweet potato and vegetables, and served.

Results

The sweet potato and potato could have been cooked for less time - they were softer than I'd usually serve them. My daughter appreciated having an onion-free meal and enjoyed it. I also liked it; it wasn't very tasty or complex, but was healthy, reasonably tasty, and filling. Unfortunately, my wife, who has a slight aversion to anything like steamed vegetables (and she considered the waterlessly cooked vegetables a bit like steamed, surprisingly), thought that the meal was "okay" but not particularly tasty.

Ideas for the future

I had considered making a sauce, perhaps a "cheesy" one with cashews and nutritional yeast, or maybe a miso-ginger sauce. That would have made the meal, I think, more appealing to my wife. The potatoes and sweet potatoes were normal sized; I have noted in the past that it takes 10-19m for sweet potatoes. I should have gone with maybe 12-15m as these were not large, thick sweet potatoes.

Edamame with Steamed Carrot, Flame-Roasted Corn-off-the-Cob (No Added Fat)

I made a quick and easy dinner by cooking frozen edamame pods, uncovered, in boiling water for 6 minutes. I put sticks of carrot maybe 4" x 1/2" atop the pods to gently cook the carrot.

I also flame-roasted cobs of corn over my gas range, stripped the kernels, and mixed in lemon juice and salt. Some cucumber completed the meal. I served the edamame with carrot; at the table, we could remove the edamame beans by putting each pod in our mouths and pulling, eating the beans and composting the shells.

Results

Dinner was good and healthful but not particularly sophisticated.

Ideas for the future

I should cook edamame pods more often - they're quite tasty.

Giant Peruvian Lima Beans with Purple Potato and Mixed Greens, Brown Jasmine Rice with Roasted Corn and Zucchini, Herbed Tofu w Vegetables (No Added Fat, Gluten Free)

I am preparing meals for some clients tonight. Typically, I just eat a little bit of each of the dishes over time as dishes become ready, and this becomes my dinner. Tonight, I decided to put several dishes together and, as otherwise usual, eat a plate of food.

Tomorrow, by the way, I'm expecting a second Instant Pot pressure cooker - this one is a "smart" one that can be precisely controlled with scripts that can then be shared. Alas, I don't have a smart phone or tablet, so, for me for now, it will just enable me to prepare two pressure-cooked simultaneously, great for home, client meals, and my classes.

I will detail the main bean course below and estimate quantities for my usual 2 or 3 servings, though I made much more since it was for a client, as well. Here is what I did:


Ingredients

• 1 cup Giant Peruvian Lima Beans rinsed and soaked overnight
• 3 medium purple (or Yukon Gold) potatoes cut into quarters (approximately a cup)
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1 cup frozen or mixed chopped greens of choice (I used mustard, collard, and kale)
• 1/2 t fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice
• (optional) 1/4 t (or to taste) salt
• (optional) 1/8 cup onion, chopped to 1/4" cubes

Process

1. I rinsed the beans then added enough water to just cover them, as well as the potato and bouillon cube, and cooked for 23 minutes in my Instant Pot pressure cooker.
2. I let the pressure cooker cool a bit for a few minutes, then slowly let the pressure out.
3. I added the greens and lemon juice. My client prefers bland food with minimal salt, so I added nothing else, but did add some salt and onion powder at the table.

I also made some brown Jasmine rice (1 part rice to 2 parts water, along with a vegan bouillon cube; I put it in my Zojirushi rice cooker in the brown rice setting but otherwise could be simmered stovetop for 45m). When the rice was ready, I mixed in some roasted corn kernels and fresh zucchini. Finally, I had some pressure cooked tofu (tofu, carrot, water, and bouillon cube cooked at low pressure for 3m; fresh celery and a little salt added before serving).

Results

Dinner was good - I hope that my clients will enjoy these and other dishes that I am preparing for them. I need to keep these tasty giant Peruvian lima beans in stock - I think that this is my first experience with them, and they were nice, soft, and creamy.  The beans went great with the potato.The tofu was good, though I wish that I had also cooked the celery. The rice was good; I'm not used to sticky rices, but still enjoyed this.

Ideas for the future

The beans were fairly soft and I am sure that I could have gotten away with a shorter cooking time, perhaps 15-18 minutes. The potato was fine but also soft - it would have been fine in 15-18 minutes, too, I suspect. I only added vegetables to the rice because my clients like it that way, but plain rice would have been good with this combination.

Mixed Vegetable-Tofu Miso Soup, Whole Wheat Bread with Tomato Paste and Nutritional Yeast (No Added Fat)

My wife was out with a friend, so I was just cooking for my daughter and myself. My daughter wanted soup and picked out ingredients - tofu, miso, and carrot. We also had frozen vegetables that she wanted, Brussels sprouts, green peas, corn, and baby lima beans. I just put all of these ingredients and water into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 5 minutes. When I was ready to serve, I added a little salt and dried oregano.

I also spread some tomato paste on whole wheat bread, topped it with nutritional yeast, and heated for about 4 minutes at 350°F in my toaster oven. Sprouted green peas completed the meal.

I was happy to see how much my daughter enjoyed this simple and nutritious meal. I'll have to make more soups with her direction! The Brussels sprouts were perhaps too soft, even though they started off frozen; I should try a 3 minute pressure cook time with frozen Brussels sprouts.

Tempeh, Kale, and Brussels Sprouts served with Tri-Color Quinoa (No Added Fat)

A friend, who is joining me for the American Dance Festival show tonight, was possibly coming for dinner, depending on her schedule, and she doesn't eat onions, peppers, or much spice. I prepared a meal in case she could make it. I turns out she couldn't, but I took a serving for her to enjoy for lunch tomorrow. Here is what I did.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces tempeh cut into 1/2" cubes
• 2 medium carrots cut into 1/4" slices
• Cup of broccoli florets
• Medium Japanese eggplant, cut into 3/8" slices
• 12 Brussels sprouts, halved
• 6 cremini (or other) mushrooms cut into 3/8" slices
• 1 cup spinach
• 1t ginger, finely chopped
• 4 leaves kale, stems removed, then leaves roughly hand torn into approximately 3/4" squares
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1/8 t salt

If I were cooking for myself, I'd also add half a cup of onion cut into 3/8" slivers, a diced clove of garlic, a bit of turmeric and ground cumin, and a vegan bouillon cube.

Process

1. I put all the ingredients into the Instant Pot pressure cooker and set on a 3 minute high pressure cycle.
2. When I was ready to serve, I slowly let the steam out and served.

I also made tri-color quinoa. I sprinkled hemp seeds atop tomato slices (but took the photograph here before adding the seeds).

Results

The dish was good but, to my onion- and spice- preferring palate, a bit bland. I added hot sauce to my serving. This was also my experiment with pressure cooking tempeh. I liked the results with tofu from the day before yesterday, but the tempeh wasn't as positive. It really just tasted like hot tempeh, like I might use in a pasta sauce. It was fine, but the pressure cooking didn't seem to add to the flavor or change the texture of the tempeh at all. It will be good to see what my

Ideas for the future

Even if serving as a no-spice dish with no onion or garlic, I could enhance the dish with some fresh lemon sage or oregano. A little more salt could be helpful. I'd make this with tofu (if not cooking for my wife, who avoids tofu, which upsets her stomach) or maybe lentils. Onion and broth certainly would improve the dish.

I'm glad that I experimented with tempeh. Perhaps tempeh would be more successful if first marinated and then pressure cooked in the marinade. I hope to try that sometime soon.