Instant Pot Wild Rice

I love wild rice & it's so much more healthier than white or brown rice. And I'm from MN, where it's grown. But wild rice is also hard to cook-it normally takes a longer time to cook. I've cooked it in my rice cooker before & when I did that, I burned the bottom of it. But I did make a big batch of it and froze it in individual servings. When I went home a couple weeks ago, I bought a 5lb bag of wild rice-that will last a me until hopefully Christmas, when I can ask for some more.

When I made the wild rice in the instant pot, it came out perfect-nothing stuck to the bottom & the rice was still crispy. So good! I only made one batch this time, since I wasn't sure how much it would make but I think next time, I'll made a double batch. I like freezing it in individual servings. It's so easy to take out as an easy side.

Wild Rice (Pinterest) (8 servings):

2 c hand-parched wild rice
5 c water, bone broth or a combo (I used chicken broth)
2 tsp salt

Add the wild rice, water and/or bone broth and salt to instant pot. Place lid on instant pot & turn until it locks into place. Make to seal the vent. Press the manual button & adjust the cooking time to 35 min and the pressure to high. Manually release pressure. Open lid immediately & fluff with a fork. Enjoy!




Enjoy!...

Pressure Cooker Easy Mushroom Risotto

My friend made me some risotto once in her pressure cooker & I was in love! And I've had it since and it was soooo good! I've heard it's hard to cook on the stove so once I got my Instant Pot, of course I wanted to try it myself. I used to hate mushrooms & now I have a love/hat relationship with them. If I don't fully taste them, I'm okay with them. I was at a vegan Mexican place with a friend of mine & she had mushroom tostadas & I tried one of the mushrooms on it & it was actually pretty good. I can get mushrooms on my pizza & be fine with them too...as long as they aren't too big. I could never eat a mushroom burger though-too much!! Which is why I thought I'd try this risotto and it was actually really good. I didn't add all the mushrooms it called for-I went a little easy on them for my first time and I cut them really small. And I had to call my mom to figure out how to cut them up haha! But the risotto turned out fantastic & I would definitely make it again!

Mushroom Risotto (Pinterest) (4-5 servings):

1 onion, diced
24 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 c red or white wine
2 c arborio rice
4 c chicken or veggie broth
1 c grated parm cheese (I used my vegan parm)
1 tbsp butter (I used vegan & soy free butter)
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp olive oil

Press the saute button on your Instant pot. Add oil. When you hear the beep that the oil is hot, add the onions & saute until translucent. Add the thyme & mushrooms & stir until mushrooms have softened. Add the rice & mix thoroughly until rice has toasted. Pour in wine & the broth. Add salt & pepper.

Close lid & press cancel. Press the pressure cook button & cook for 7 minutes. When 7 minutes have passed, release the pressure. Open the lid & add the cheese & butter. Mix well & check for seasoning. Rice should be creamy & thick, if not, cook in saute mode for 2-3 min. Enjoy!




Enjoy!...

Avocado Salmon Rice Bowl

I've been craving salmon lately & one day I decided to clean out my freezer before going shopping. It's a good thing I did because I found a small pkg of salmon, along with a big bag of salmon that needs to be eaten before the middle part of August. Guess I'll be eating salmon for a while! I saw this recipe on Pinterest and it looked really good so of course I had to try it and it was soooo good! I used bamboo rice instead of jasmine because I've had it in my pantry and never tried it before. I cooked it according to the pkg directions-not sure I like it so when I make this dish again, I think I'll use jasmine instead. The bamboo rice kind of reminds me of a cross between sticky rice & sushi rice. The way the recipe calls to make the avocado with the chili powder added to it is soooo good! In fact, I've made it that way a couple times now as the new way to make guacamole since I can't make my regular guacamole with tomatoes. I'll keep making this recipe-sooooo good!

You can find this recipe here




Salmon ready to be baked...

Bamboo Rice...

Avocado...

Enjoy!...

One Pan Cilantro-Lime Chicken & Rice with Black Beans

I came across this recipe on Pinterest & it immediately piqued my interest because it's a one-pot meal and simple. I've since made it a couple times & I love it. I used chicken the first time and while it was good, I prefer using ground meat, which is what I've done since. I usually use 6 oz of whatever ground meat I have on hand. It just blends better with the rice & beans. And while this recipe states that's necessary to use minute white rice, which would probably make it have less liquid, I really don't like the way minute rice taste. So I've always used my rice cooker & altered how much liquid I put into the dish. Your choice in how you make the dish-I'll let you decide. I'll put the ingredients for the minute rice. This dish is just really easy to make & it's perfect the next day for lunches.

To find the recipe, click here



Ready to be simmered down...

Enjoy!...

Chicken Biryani

I found this recipe book at Barnes & Noble. I used to work with an Indian woman so I asked her go through the book and mark recipes she has made or makes for her family for me to try. This was one of those recipes. I found an Indian grocery store nearby where I had to pick up some of the ingredients. It was a neat place so spent a little time looking around. I'd definitely like to go back soon and spend more time in there. I chose this recipe because it looked like a casserole and looked pretty easy to make. Boy was I wrong! It took an hour to prep and get everything ready and then another hour to cook! I thought it was good when I first starting eating it but the more I ate it the more I didn't like it. I have never had cardamom pods or cloves before and I don't think I like the cardamom pods. I also had to grind some of the spices and I don't think I ground them all the way down so I didn't like the taste of that either. If I ever make this recipe again, I think I'd leave out the cardamom pods and use all ground spices. And I wouldn't spice up the rice-I'd just leave it plain.

Chicken Biryani (4 servings)(10 points)

1 1/2 basmati rice
10 whole green cardamom pods
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 whole cloves
2-in piece fresh cinnamon stick
3 tbsp veggie oil
3 onions, sliced
4 chicken breast fillets, each about 6 oz, skinned and cubed
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp hot chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
Juice of 1 lemon
4 tomatoes, sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 c plain yogurt, plus extra to serve
4-5 saffron threads, soaked in 2 tsp warm milk
2/3 c water
Garnishes: Sliced almonds, fresh cilantro sprigs

Wash rice well and let soak in water for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375. Remove seeds from half the cardamom pods and grind them finely, using a mortar and pestle. Set aside the ground seeds.

Bring pan of water to boil. Drain rice and add t with the salt, whole cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon stick. Boil 2 minutes, then drain, leaving the whole spices in the rice. Keep the rice hot in a covered pan.

Heat oil in a large skillet and fry the onions for 8 minutes, until softened and browned. Add the chicken and the ground spices, including the ground cardamom seeds. Mix well, then add the garlic, ginger ad lemon juice. stir-fry for about 5 minutes.

Transfer the chicken mixture to a casserole (I used a Dutch oven) and arrange the tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro, spoon the yogurt evenly on top, and cover with drained rice.

Drizzle the saffron milk over the rice and pour over the water. Cover, then bake in the oven for 1 hour. Transfer to a serving plate and discard the whole spices. Garnish and serve immediately.




Chicken and onions cooking...






Rice and spices boiling...






Chicken and onion mixture...






Tomatoes and cilantro...






Yogurt added to the mixture...






All the layers and ingredients and ready for the oven...






Fresh from the oven...






Enjoy!...

Quinoa Vegetable Pilaf

Once upon a time Taste of Home had a healthy cooking version of their magazine. They just recently got rid of it for some stupid reason but I found this recipe in that magazine a while ago. When I first tried this, I wasn't eating quinoa very much so it was a nice introduction of the grain because it's mixed with rice and veggies. And even better, this recipe only serves 2! Perfect for me. Tonight, I doubled the recipe only because I wanted leftovers for tomorrow. Instead of white quinoa, I used a rainbow quinoa, which cooked a little bit quicker than regular white quinoa so it burned a little. It was still tasty though and I'll continue to keep making this as a side dish. I'm going to put down the 2 serving ingredients-I'll leave it up to you if you want to double it or not.

I also just joined Weight Watchers again so don't mind if I add points here and there to the recipe.

Quinoa Veggie Pilaf (2 servings) (WW 5 pts):

2 tbsp finely chopped onion
2 tbsp chopped carrot
1/2 tsp canola oil
1/4 c uncooked jasmine rice
1/4 c quinoa, rinsed
1 c chicken broth
1/8 tsp pepper
1/3 c chopped fresh broccoli

In small saucepan, saute onion and carrots in oil until tender. Add rice and quinoa; stir to coat. Stir in broth and pepper.

Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed, adding the broccoli during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.




All the ingredients...






All the ingredients minus the broccoli added...






Broccoli added...






Served with the meatloaf...

Sticky Rice with Spicy Tomato Relish

Like I said in my previous post, I've been on a major sticky rice kick lately. And I was getting bored with eating it with just soy sauce. I'll be making another stir-fry soon now that I have all the regular ingredients but then I remembered this tomato relish that my best friend made several years ago. Super easy to make and very little ingredients yet very tasty. I thought I had the recipe written down but apparently I didn't so I asked her for it again. I think I used too much cilantro since the relish turned a little green but it tasted okay. It was missing something though-maybe salt. I added a little garlic powder to mine and some soy sauce and it tasted much better.

I've included pictures of the way I make my sticky rice but if you don't have the proper pieces I'm sure you can google how to make sticky rice in a ricer cooker or in a regular pan. I got all my stuff from an Asian store and my best friend went with me to help. The base is a metal pot-you fill it with water and heat it to boiling. The basket is shaped kind of like a funnel so that goes into the pot (without touching the water) so the rice gets steamed. The pan lid on top helps trap most of the steam. I cook my rice for 20 min and it comes out perfect every time. But an important thing to remember..no matter how you cook your rice, make sure you soak the rice in water at least 1 hour before you cook it or it will come out harder than a rock and not good to eat. I always soak my rice overnight just to be safe.

Again, I don't have an actual recipe..I just kinda went by general instructions from my friend and how I like it. According to her, for the cilantro, you should have half the amount of tomatoes and green onions should be half the amount of cilantro. So I'll try to put down what I used.

Sticky Rice with Spicy Tomato Relish:

25 grape tomatoes, halved
4-6 green onions, sliced (I used 6 only because my green onions were tiny)
1/2 c cilantro
1 Thai chili pepper, sliced

Using a mortar and pestle, grind the cilantro and chili pepper until dark green and mushy looking; transfer to a bowl. Boil the tomatoes and green onions until potatoes can be mashed down, about 5 min. In small batches, add the tomatoes and green onions to mortar and mash down. Once mashed, add it to the bowl. Once everything is added, mix it up well. This is when I added some garlic powder and soy sauce to taste.




Rice in the basket...






Steamer basket for the rice...






What I use to make my stick rice...






Sticky rice done...






Ready to be boiled...






Thai chile pepper and some of the cilantro being grinded...






Tomatoes & green onions after they've been boiled...






Everything all mashed together...






Sticky Rice dipped in relish...

Red Lentil-Rice Cakes with Simple Tomato Salsa

This recipe was HARD!! It took me a couple attempts to make this recipe. And even with the final attempt, it didn't turn out the best. Oh well, at least I attempted to make something a little more harder. The taste was pretty good, despite the mess I made with it. I ended up only making half of the cakes because I was tired of burning myself and tired of the cakes falling apart. Only about 4 of the cakes actually held their shape, otherwise I have a mess of crumbles, which I will still eat. It took me 2 attempts to make the lentils-I followed the directions for the recipe and the lentils turned into mush. When I made them tonight, I only cooked it for about half the time and they turned out much better. The salsa really makes the cakes taste amazing!

Red Lentil-Rice Cakes with Simple Tomato Salsa (Cooking Light) (6 servings):

*Salsa

3 c finely chopped plum tomatoes (about 6)
1/4 c chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp capers (I added 3 tsp)
1/4 tsp salt

*Cakes

4 c water, divided
1 c dried small red lentils
1/2 c uncooked basmati rice
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1/2 c finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 c finely chopped red onion
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c dry breadcrumbs
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

To prepare salsa, combine all ingredients; set aside at room temp.

To prepare cakes, bring 3 c water and lentils to boil in med saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 min or until tender. (This is the time I used and I made sure to watch the lentils carefully during the last couple of minutes to make sure they weren't over-done.) Drain and rinse with cold water; drain. Place lentils in large bowl.

Combine remaining 1 c water and rice in pan; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 18 min or until liquid is absorbed. Cool 10 min. Add rice to lentils.

Heat 1 tsp oil in large skillet over med-high. add bell peppers, onion, fennel seeds and garlic to pan; saute 2 min or until tender. Cool 10 min. Add to lentil mixture. Add mozzarella and remaining ingredients, stirring until well combined. Let stand 10 min.

Wipe skillet clean with paper towels. Heat 2 tsp oil in skillet over med heat. Spoon half of rice mixture by 1/3 cupfuls into pan, spreading to form 6 (3-in) circles; cook 5 min or until lightly browned. Carefully turn cakes over; cook 5 min on other side. Remove cakes from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tbsp oil and remaining rice mixture. Serve with salsa.

Note: I probably should have added more egg to my mixture because my cakes would not hold together to cook. I also started forming them into flat patties with my hands toward the end and carefully placing them in the skillet. Make sure to cook the patties for the full 4-5 min or they will fall apart when you try to flip them over.




Salsa...






Tender lentils...






Everything all mixed together...






How most of the cakes turned out...






My three best cakes...






Cooking in skillet...






Enjoy!...

Slow-Cooked Jambalaya

No idea where or when I bought this book but I decided at the beginning of the week that I needed to use my slow cooker more often so I started looking at my cookbooks. I found this one to have tons of good looking recipes so I decided to start making my grocery list.




Book of recipes...






I found three recipes to make in this week/next week and I have several more book marked to make soon. This is the first recipe I made out of it and it turned out really good. I also have a fish recipe and a chicken soup recipe that I will be posting soon. For some reason, I have been craving good jambalaya lately. I blame girls' night out when I had a really good jambalaya at the Cheesecake Factory. It didn't taste as good as Cheesecake's but it was pretty good. I have lots of leftovers, so I can freeze it.

I didn't use all of the chicken it asked for, since I feel that any jambalaya has way too much chicken. I couldn't find the pkg of prechopped veggies, so I used 1 white onion, chopped; 2 med ribs of celery, chopped; and 1 yellow pepper, chopped. I think when I make this next, I won't add the cooked rice for the last 30 min-i think my rice is too mushy so I may just cook it and serve it with the jambalaya separately. And the next time I make it, I will add some red pepper flakes in the beginning. I've been using the red pepper flakes for my individual servings just to add some heat. Other than that, the dish turned out pretty good!


Jambalaya (8 servings):

2 lb skinned and boned chicken thighs (I used two chicken breasts, cut up)
1 lb smoked sausage, cut into 2-in slices
1 (8 oz) container refrigerated prechopped celery, onion and bell pepper mix
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 c chicken broth
1 tbsp Cajun spice mix
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 lb extra-large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 3/4 c converted rice
Garnish: Chopped parsley

Combine chicken, sausage, celery mix, tomatoes, garlic, chicken broth, spice mix, thyme and oregano in a 5-qt slow cooker. Cook on low 5 hours.

Add shrimp and rice; increase heat to high and cook for 30 min. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, if desired.




All the ingredients added...






Rice & shrimp added...






Enjoy...

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