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No-Pressure Cooking

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The Vegan Way

By Jill Nussinow, M.S, R.D., The Veggie Queen™

If you’ve never seen a pressure cooker, they are a curiosity. If you have, you

might conjure up frightening images of hissing pots and food on the ceiling, or worse. Isaw

the aftermath of my mother’s pressure cooker and vowed never to use one of those. And I don’t.

My new, second generation, pressure cooker is safe, quiet and produces healthyfood in a fraction of the time of conventional cooking methods, keeping me cool whilecooking in the summer and making hot food really hot in the winter.Introduced from Europe to the U. S. in the 1980s, the new pressure cookers are

an improved version of mother’s. They have at least three safety release valves.

Instead of a jiggler on top, they use a spring valve that rises with pressure. Theycannot be opened until the pressure subsides. You have more chance of blowing theengine on your car than blowing the lid off one of these cookers.Cooking under pressure relieves the pressure in your life. Come dinnertime, youcan have a meal on the table in less than 30 minutes. How does 15-minute chili or lentilsoup, 5-minute black beans or quinoa sound? Once you lock on the lid and bring yourcooker to high pressure, almost all you need to do is set a timer.Pressure cooking is simple. At least one half cup of liquid (or the amountrequired by your brand of pressure cooker) is added to the pot along with otheringredients. With the locked lid and high heat, the liquid inside boils. When the resulting

steam raises the spring valve, you know the pot is under enough pressure to start thetimer. Then reduce the heat, to the lowest setting required to maintain high pressure.When your timer beeps, release the pressure. This occurs naturally by letting thepot sit for about 10 minutes, or less depending upon how full you have the pot. You caneither do a quick release on newer pots by using the release mechanism only (thepreferred method) or by carrying the pot to the sink and running cool water over it.Both quick release methods drop the pressure in a minute or two which is great forquick-cooking vegetables or when you are sure you want to stop cooking.If you discover that your dish is not done, you may lock the lid back on and raisethe pressure again or simmer on the stovetop without the lid. These stainless steel potswith triple-ply bottoms cook evenly.The high heat of pressure cooking results in quick cooked food that tastes likeyou spent a long time cooking. For best results with your cooker, read the booklet that

comes with it. You may also want to invest in a good book like Lorna Sass’s

Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure

. My DVD

Pressure Cooking: A Fresh Look, Delicious Dishes in Minutes

guides you through cooking 14 vegan recipes from breakfast throughdessert. But the best teacher is experimentation.

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Vegan Pressure Cooking

Making vegan cooking easy, fast and delicious by learning how to use a pressure cooker. They're not scary any more.

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Category:	Recipes/Menus
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Upload Date:	01/19/2008
Copyright:	Attribution Non-commercial
Tags:	Other pressure eating healthy vegetables cooking vegan Health-Nutrition Other pressure eating healthy vegetables cooking vegan Health-Nutrition (fewer)