As I mentioned before, I have a full-time job outside the home that also accommodates my homeschooling schedule. And while I am VERY fortunate and blessed by this fact, it also means that we are a VERY busy family.
On a rare occasion, we do grab a quick bite out to eat ($5 take out pizza, anyone?). But for this budget-conscious family of 6, eating out is a very rare treat and often a last resort (ie, out of town games, meetings or other programs). This means, scheduling and menu planning are a MUST. Unfortunately, even the best laid plans.....well you know. Sometimes I forget to take meat out of the freezer. Sometimes I wind up having to work late or Husband gets shuttled out of town for a quick job. In situations like these, even my trusty slow cooker is of little use.
Just how much do I love my slow cooker? Well, someone once asked if I could only keep one singular kitchen appliance, what would it be? I said, without hesitation, my slow cooker. Seriously, mine is a workhorse and often gets put to use 5 out of 7 days of the week, with the other two days being designated as leftover days.
So when dear sweet Husband gifted me with an electric pressure cooker for Christmas, I was a little skeptical. I mean - what could this thing do that my slow cooker couldn't already? Wasn't this just going to end up being another expense gadget taking up precious storage space in my kitchen?
Our first experience with the electric pressure cooker was a little mixed. We made rice and steamed some veggies in it all at once. Not sure how this gadget worked, I used my normal rice to water ratio. I will say the rice was cooked in record time over my current rice cooker, but when we opened it up - rice soup! I'm not kidding. Have you ever tried to scoop rice with a SLOTTED spoon? I have since learned that you don't need as much water in a pressure cooker like you do a steamer because the water doesn't escape during cooking. My mom had a good chuckle over that one. Anyway...
After that I decided to poke around Pinterest and see if I could find any recipes for this new fangled contraption. Sure enough, I found lots of tips and tricks -including cooking ground meat from frozen! I'm probably a bit too excited about that one.
Tonight I decided to try my spaghetti squash. If you're not familiar with this veggie you are missing out. Spaghetti squash and it's cousin butternut squash make frequent appearances in our house due to their versatility. However, they are a BEAR to prep. I've tried pre-cooking in the over, microwave, and yes, my slow cooker, all with varying degrees of success.
I cut my spaghetti squash in half around the middle - so I didn't have to cut through the stem part. Then scooped out the seeds with a spoon, put it in the pressure cooker (cut side up) with a cup of water and set the time for 7 minutes. And it worked wonderfully!
I decided to put it in a dish with a bunch of kale I had that I needed to use up. The bunch was a little small so I added some kale I had chopped and frozen earlier.
I started by heating about a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan, then added minced garlic and just a few little onions. After I sauted those for about a minute or two, I added the kale, a pinch of red chili flakes, a tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1/2 a tablespoon of rosemary. I stirred it all around until it was mixed well and the kale was wilted. Then, using a fork, I scrapped the cooked strands of spaghetti squash into the pan to heat through. That's it!
The kids did add cheese to their dishes later on and it probably could have had a wee be of salt added, but I find it's much better to not add salt during my cooking and let folks add what they want after. In a family of 6, everyone has a different palette so I try not to add too much in on the front end.
Update: I've also tried cooking potatoes for mashed potatoes in the pressure cooker and it worked like a CHARM! Potatoes cooked in 10 minutes and mashed easily without being soggy or starchy!
Spaghetti Squash with kale and chickpeas
- One Spaghetti Squash
- One bunch of kale, de-stemmed and chopped
- One can of Chickpeas, drained
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- Chopped onion, to taste
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 1/2 Tbs rosemary
- Pinch of red chili flakes
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
Cut the spaghetti squash in half, around the belly, avoiding the stem area. Place in an electric pressure cooker, cut side up. Add 1 cup of water to the cooker. Set timer for 7 minutes and cook. Allow to cool before handling.
While the squash is cooking, heat up the olive oil in a pan. Saute the garlic and onion for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook just until kale is wilted. Using a fork, scrap out the strands of the spaghetti squash into the pan and heat through.
Serve immediately.
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