Instapot Mung Bean and Brown Rice Stew

Back again! Been a while but never mind.

I want to try to make meatless meals using our Instapot as much as I can and try to make them as low fat as possible.

If you are on WW purple, this whole pot has 1SP from the oil only. If you are on WW blue, you need to add the brown rice to your SP count.

This recipe is an adaptation from kneadtocook.com.

Mung Bean and Brown Rice Stew

3/4 cup dry mung beans
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala or curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder (or to taste)
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp salt
1 bottle tomato passata (675ml or so)
4 cups water

Before starting anything else, put the rice and mung beans into a bowl and cover them with water. You can leave them to soak overnight or all day or 15 minutes. Just as long as they soak a bit first.

Turn the Instapot onto sauté (medium heat) and add the oil. Let it heat and fry the onions until beginning to brown. Add the garlic and fry until aromatic, making sure to stir so that it doesn't burn.

Add all the dry spices and fry them with the onions and garlic. Add the ginger.

When the spices have coated the onions and garlic and are starting to stick to the bottom of the pan, add the full jar of passata. Add some water to the jar (about 5cm) and swirl it around to get all the tomato sauce out of the jar and add it to the pot. Stir and scrape the bottom to get all the spices mixed into the tomato. Stir in the salt. Stir occasionally so that it doesn't stick and let it bubble for about 5 minutes. Press cancel on the Instapot.

Drain the mung beans and rice. Add them to the pot. Add the 4 cups of water and stir it all together, making sure all the rice and beans are stirred into the water and none are stuck on the side of the pot.

Lock the lid on the pot making sure it's set to "sealing". Press manual and increase the time to 15 minutes. Make sure it is on high heat. Leave it to cook.

Once the 15 minutes is done, leave the pot to vent on its own for about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with the side of your choice.

Hottie Black-Eyed Peas and Greens

Winter finally set in yesterday so I wanted something hot and stewy, plus we were going to see The Iron Lady and so I needed something that could be made fairly quickly. And a quick look in the fridge revealed a sad bunch of chard just begging to be eaten. How could I refuse an opportunity to make a favourite?

Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a vegan goddess. We have three of her cookbooks and we have not hit a bad recipe yet. This one comes from Appetite for Reduction and is one of my go-to staples, especially if I have some wilted greens like beet greens, kale or chard. Of course you can use nice fresh greens but they are good for using up those bunches that are looking slightly tired.

You can serve this on any starch or just eat it as a side dish or as a dish itself. I cooked bulgur last night which is made from cracked wheat. It is not fast from start to finish (40 minutes) but all you need is to put 1 cup bulgur in a pot with a lid, add 1cup + 1/3 cup boiling water, stir, cover and let sit. After 40 minutes, fluff with a fork and voilà! Make this first and let it "cook" while you prepare the rest. More substantial than coucous and different from rice.

Hottie Black-Eyed Peas and Greens

oil for frying (I use canola which is the best oil apart from olive in terms of health benefits)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 bunch greens washed, cut into strips/shredded (about 1/2 lb although I never weigh my greens)
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 cans (15oz each) black-eyed peas (although I have used black beans and I'm sure any other bean you like would work.)
1 cup passata (tomato sauce NOT ketchup)
1/2 cup veggie broth (see note below about instant veggie broths)
1 tbsp hot sauce
1/4 tsp liquid smoke or smoked paprika (last night I added 1/4 block of smoked tofu cut into 1cm cubes which added a smoky flavour but not as intense as the liquid smoke or paprika. Corey preferred it with the tofu, I like the smoke or paprika more)


Heat the oil in a large saucepan (with a tight fitting lid) on medium heat. Sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic and sauté another minute. Add the greens, water and salt. Cover and let simmer until the greens are cooked down - about 10minutes. Check the pot and stir a couple times to make sure nothing is sticking and that your greens haven't become a mush. Add the peas, passata, broth and mix thoroughly. Cover and let simmer 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the tofu at this point if you are using it. Add the hot sauce and liquid smoke/paprika and cook 5 minutes more, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Serve on a starch of your choice. Yummy!

About soup broth powders...
It's hard to find any stock powder that isn't more salt than anything else. We have a "chicken flavoured" veggie stock that gives me 21% of my sodium intake in just 1tsp. Ridiculous. The broth powder I use the most often is Gayelord Hauser's All Natural Instant Vegetable Broth. It only has 7% of my daily salt per tsp and as far as I can tell, the salt comes from the ground kelp. It's more expensive but it comes in a good size box and if worth the price. I get it at Nature's Fair by the mall.