Sweet And Orangey Brussels Sprouts Stove Top Or Instant Pot Pressure Cooker RecipePerfect Side Dish For The Holidays

Orange and maple syrup flavored Brussels sprouts.

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Planning my Thanksgiving Menu
Thanksgiving should have been named the Holiday of Starch with mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole and stuffing always being the highlights of the menu. But my favorite dish is always Brussels Sprouts, even though I also make garlicky green beens for those who aren't crazy about the petite cabbage. Last year I made Roasted Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Shallots with Pomegranate Seeds. A few years ago I served them raw in a Brussels Sprouts Salad with Orange Chia Seed Vinaigrette, Dried Cranberries and Almonds. But this year's recipe is super simple and flavorful with just a handful of common ingredients.

If you have a Instant Pot or similar pressure cooker, this recipe will take only a few minutes. But I'll also show you a simple stove top recipe too.

It's nice to have an extra pot on Thanksgiving day since
all the burners and the oven are full of other things!

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Sweet and Orangey Brussels Sprouts 
Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 8 servings]

2 pounds Brussels sprouts (1.5 pounds when trimmed)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 tablespoon Earth Balance buttery spread
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Trim 1/4 inch off the bottom of each Brussels sprout. If they are large, cut them in half. Otherwise, leave them whole. Rinse under cold water.

Stove Top Recipe
Place the Brussels sprouts in a 5-quart Dutch oven or medium pot with a steamer basket. Steam them until they are fork tender. Some people like them as hard as a rock but I am not one of those people. I think they taste creamier when you can pierce them easily with a fork. 

Drain the cooked Brussels sprouts in a colander and set aside. Remove the steamer basket and remove all water.

Using the same pot, combine the orange juice and zest, Earth Balance, and maple syrup. Heat at a low temperature until the Earth Balance melts, stirring so that it mixes with the other ingredients.

Orange sauce

Add the Brussels sprouts to the orange sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir until each Brussels sprout is covered with the warm sauce. Serve immediately or reheat before serving.

Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipe
Place all of the ingredients in the Instant Pot or similar Pressure cooker.

Cover with the pressure cooker top, making sure that the quick release switch is closed. 
Push the manual button and set it for 4 minutes if the Brussels sprouts are good size and whole and 3 if they are very small or cut in half. If you like them harder than fork tender, you should set it for less time. You can always cook them longer if they aren't done to your liking.

When the time is up, hit the off button and quick release the pressure.

Stir until the Brussels sprouts are evenly covered with sauce and serve.

Per serving: 65 calories, 2 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 83 mg omega-3 and 45 mg omega-6 fatty acids*, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g protein, 12 g carbohydrates, 3 g dietary fiber, and 179 mg sodium.

Making Polenta in my Instant Pot Pressure Cooker The Creamiest Polenta I've Ever Eaten!Vegan And Gluten Free

I love polenta when it's soft and creamy.

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Making Polenta in my Electric Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Last month I blogged about my new Electric Instant Pot pressure cooker. I've been using it almost every day. I thought I would love it because it cooks things in less time, which it does for many dishes like beans, for example. But even when it takes the same amount of time, when you add in the time it takes for the pot to release its pressure naturally, I actually love it more for the texture it gives grains (like quinoa, polenta, and oatmeal.) It also frees you from having to continually stir dishes, like risotto.

Making polenta is one of those dishes that requires complete attention when making it on the stove. It needs constant stirring toward the end, it can boil over onto your nice clean stove, or send a flying hot clump of polenta into your eye. It also can result in polenta that's a bit gritty and crunchy. But making polenta in this pot not only makes it a lot easier, but it produces the creamiest polenta I've ever eaten! 

Great for your Gluten-Free Guests

Polenta is versatile and makes a great dish for various toppings. You can top polenta with ratatouille, sautéed mushrooms, tomato sauce, beans, poached or fried eggs, or just eat it plain. Today Doug and I had it for lunch with some black beans (cooked with green peppers and onions) and some pickled jalapeños that I canned a few weeks ago. 

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Creamy Pressure Cooker Polenta

Vegan, Dairy and Gluten Free

[makes 6 servings]

Requires the Instant Pot Pressure Cooker or a similar pressure cooker (link below for stove top recipe)

2 cups water

2 cups almond (or other non-dairy) milk

1 tablespoon Earth Balance buttery spread

1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

1 cup gluten-free dry polenta or corn grits 

1 to 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)

Place the water, milk, Earth Balance, and salt into the Instant Pot. Press the sauté button on the lower left and bring the liquids to a boil.

Push sauté button on lower left to boil liquids in pot.

Gradually stir the polenta and nutritional yeast into the boiling liquid until well combined.

Cover with the pressure cooker top, making sure that the quick release switch is closed. Push the manual button and set it for 7 minutes.

When it's done, hit the off button on the lower right and let it release it's pressure naturally. It should take 15 to 20 minutes. 

After the pressure is released, slide open the cover and tilt it so that the steam comes out the back away from your face. There will be some liquid on top of the polenta. Stir until the liquid is incorporated and the polenta is smooth. Adjust salt if needed. If you want it thicker, hit the sauté button and cook for a few more minutes but it will thicken a lot as it cools.

When you open the cover, there will be liquid on top of the polenta.

Stir until the liquid is incorporated and the polenta is smooth.

Serve immediately.

Per serving: 135 calories, 3 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 g protein, 22 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, and 266 mg sodium.

Don't have a pressure cooker? Here's the recipe for making polenta on a stove top. 

The Amazing Electric Instant Pot New Pressure Cooker TechnologyNo-Stir Risotto In Five Minutes!

If I could only own one pot, this Instant Pot would be it!

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Boy, Have Pressure Cookers Changed
I have an old pressure cooker that's been in my closet for about 20 years. You know the kind - the one that has steam shooting out of it and makes constant clanging noises. The one that sounds like it's going to explode any minute and shower your kitchen ceiling with its entire contents! I've used it twice. 

So when I went to an Instant Pot pressure cooker demonstration given by the Veggie Queen several years ago, I still was a little reluctant. After all, I kind of enjoy stirring, tasting, simmering, adjusting spices, and all the fun stuff that goes along with cooking. But recently my girlfriend Margarite bought one and raved so much about it that I caved in and got one. After all, I love trying new kitchen toys. (Although I'm talking mostly about the pressure cooker feature in this post, this electric pot also slow cooks, sautés, makes yogurt, and more.)

Control Freaks Beware
I must say this pressure cooker takes some getting used to. It has a big sturdy lid and once it turns to close, you can't open it while its at high pressure. And it's totally silent (no clanging) so you hardly know that it's cooking.

But here's the catch. Because you can't open it while it's under pressure, you give up total control. You have to trust that the pressure cooker gods are doing everything just right. It can be unnerving, especially when you don't read the instructions!

I hate reading instructions so I didn't know that once the pressure cooker tells you it's finished, and makes a cute little beep, you are supposed to turn it off and then wait for the pressure to release gradually. 

My first attempt with using this pot was making black bean soup. I didn't turn it off when it beeped so the pot remained at pressure forever. I sat there and watched it as our dinner hour flew past. Panic set in. Why wasn't the pressure going down? When are we going to eat dinner? Have these beans turned to complete mush? Why can't I open my damn pot?

Doug finally read the directions and we turned off the pot. The pressure gradually released, we carefully opened the pot (with the steam pointed away from us) and there was our soup. I added too much water and the soup kind of looked like sewage. It's not that black bean soup looks that great anyway (especially when it's too watery). So my first test completely failed. Besides the failed soup, I learned something that I kind of already knew about myself - that I am a complete CONTROL FREAK and that I can't even turn over control to a pot!

Luckily I wasn't discouraged and tried again. Since then, almost everything I've cooked has come out amazing!

Lessons Learned
1. Read the instructions. It's not that the pot is too complicated, but there are a few critical things you need to know.

2. When you use a pressure cooker, you need to know how long it will take to make your recipe. Start with a good cook book for basic times and once you've got a few things down, experiment with your own recipes. I started out with Jill Nussinow's New Fast Food cookbook. It's an excellent reference for how long it takes to cook grains and beans and exactly how much liquid to use. It's got some great vegan recipes in it and it's helped me get started with this wonderful new pot.

3. Keep a notebook. If your oatmeal came out a bit too thick, make a note to add a bit more water next time. If your veggies came out too soft, make a note to cut down the cooking time. Figure out which recipes let you release the steam quickly and which ones have to release the pressure gradually. You'll find these notes will help you develop a set of instructions so that all of your favorite recipes will come out perfectly! 

4. You have to experiment. Not everything will come out great at first but when you perfect a few recipes, you'll wonder how you ever cooked without this pot.

Things I Love to Make in my Instant Pot
In the future I will start blogging some of my pressure cooker recipes, but for now, I'd just like to tell you what dishes are great to make in this pot.

I bet every Italian who owns this pot uses it to make stuffed artichokes. Artichokes are so tough that you have to steam them for a long time. You have to keep adding water while they are cooking and by the time they are soft enough to eat, their leaves are falling off into the pot. This pot is nice and big and artichokes some out beautifully.

Stuffed artichokes

This pot makes the creamiest oatmeal I've ever eaten. I'm actually not as big a fan of oatmeal as my husband but since we started making it in this pot (with vanilla, cranberries, cinnamon, almond milk, and a pinch of salt), I want to eat it every morning!

Creamy oatmeal

Stuffed bell peppers are another dish that's hard to make because the peppers usually have to be pre-boiled so everything bakes uniformly. With the pressure cooker, you don't have to do that and in just a few minutes, you have beautifully cooked stuffed peppers.

Stuffed Peppers

I think pressure cookers were invented to cook beans. It not only cuts down the time dramatically, it seems to prevent the beans from splitting. The New Fast Food cookbook has helpful tables on how long different beans take to cook (as well as other foods.) Here are perfectly cooked garbanzo beans.

Garbanzo beans - soft and creamy inside with skins intact.

How would you like to make risotto without constantly stirring it? And how would you like to do that in just a fraction of the time? I roasted some chanterelles in the oven, made the risotto in the Instant Pot in 5 minutes, stirred in the chanterelles and had PERFECT risotto!

Chanterelle mushroom risotto

Stainless Steel Cooking Pot
Another big plus is that the cooking pot is stainless - not teflon like my rice maker. Now that I can make rice in this pot, I no longer need a separate rice cooker. 

Great Pot for a College Student
If I could only have one pot, this would be the one. It's electric so you don't even need a stove - just an electric outlet. It would be a great pot for a college student since it does almost anything and you can make a lot of one-pot meals in it. 

I guess you can tell that I'm excited about my new Instant Pot. I bought mine on Amazon for $135. I have a lot of experimenting to do to learn all of its capabilities and I'll be sharing my pressure cooker adventures with you soon!