Meals on the Road: Pressure Cooker Quinoa Buddha Bowl

For tonight's dinner, I wanted to make something fast, simple, colorful, and filling. I settled on a Buddha bowl - a bowl full of colorful grains and greens of various textures and flavors. In this case, the primary grain is quinoa; it's accompanied by sides of broccoli, tomatoes, and mini sweet potatoes. We made it using a combination of our Instant Pot IP-LUX50 6-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker and the microwave.

Ingredients needed (serves 2-4 people):

*1.5 cups dry quinoa (I used the tri-color quinoa from Trader Joe's)

*1 large carrot, chopped into small pieces

*1 cup chopped spinach

*1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

*2 cloves garlic, chopped

*2.5 cups water

*1.5 cups broccoli florets

*Handful of grape tomatoes

*Six small sweet potatoes (TJs sells bags of mini ones that cook fast in the microwave)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Pour dry quinoa into your Instant Pot bowl.

2. To the same bowl, add the chopped carrots, mushrooms, spinach, and garlic. Season with 1-2 tsp seasoning (I like TJs Everyday Seasoning). Add the water.

3. Close the lid, press "Manual" button, set the time to 5 minutes, and make sure the valve is closed.

Note: I used 2.5 cups of water instead of 3 cups (for the typical 1:2 quinoa to water ratio) because the veggies themselves contain a lot of water.

4. While the quinoa is cooking, place the sweet potatoes in the microwave (yes, we use the microwave a lot in the RV). I microwaved all of these together on high for 5-6 minutes and they were good to go, but it depends on the size of the potatoes you use and the specs of your microwave oven. Be sure to pierce each potato 2-3 times before microwaving.

5. Place the broccoli and tomatoes in a microwave-safe bowl. Add a sprinkling of seasoning and 1 inch of water. Cover. Microwave on high for 3.5 - 4 minutes.

6. Now assemble your Buddha bowls, like so (or not like so... You can arrange however you like.)

7. Season with hot sauce or other dressing of your choice and enjoy.

Meals on the Road: InstantPot Lentils and Rice

I've mentioned in several previous posts that I am completely in love with the InstantPot. It's a pressure cooker that cooks dried stuff - like beans and rice! - quickly and effectively (and if you like, you can also employ it to saute, steam, and slow cook). Plus, you can use the InstantPot in the RV without worrying about short circuiting the electronics (disclaimer: don't hold me to this; check your amps).

Tonight I made a one-pot meal of lentils, rice, and veggies that took a total of ~30 minutes to prep and cook. It was filling, hearty, easy to make, and - major, major bonus - inexpensive.

Here's how to do it:

Ingredients

-1 cup uncooked brown rice

-1/2 cup dried green lentils (I assume red lentils would work, too)

-1.5 to 2 cups chopped veggies: I used mushrooms and peppers

-2 tsp olive oil

-Seasoning to taste

-1.5 cups water

Instructions

1. Place all of the ingredients in the InstantPot. Yup, just dump 'em in.

2. Close the lid and lock it. Set the steam valve to the closed position. Press the "Manual" button and adjust the time to 23 - 25 minutes. (If you want to use larger dried beans, like black beans or pinto beans, add a few minutes to the time.)

3. Drink a beer and listen to a podcast. Personally, I'm really into No Meat Athlete and The Rich Roll Podcast right now. 

4. When the InstantPot is done cooking, let it sit for ~10 minutes before opening the lid.

5. Cross your fingers that everything cooked properly. In this case, it did.

6. Enjoy with other planty stuff of your choice. In this case, I paired the rice with some roasted butternut squash.

*Tip: Heat the water before adding it to the InstantPot. This will permit the InstantPot to seal more quickly.