If you have not jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon yet, get on it now; this is hands down, the best kitchen appliance I have ever purchased. I seriously use it about three times a week now. To describe it simply, it is a slow cooker and pressure built into one! Imagine cooking 4 racks of ribs in about one and half hours – yah, it does that! Stay tuned for that recipe, because today I’m going to share a vegetarian recipe to illustrate that the Instant Pot is not about quick cooking all of the delicious meats. I’ve been experimenting with tofu lately and really loving it as a high protein alternative to chowing down on animals (which, by the way, I will never stop doing).
However, if you have never tried tofu, give this a try – warning: don’t get too aggressive with the spices in the beginning because you can always add more later, but it can be pretty difficult to take it away!
Ingredients:
1 package extra firm tofu, water drained
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 small white onion, finely diced
1 tbsp fresh ground ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp turmeric
1 398mL coconut milk
3 tbsp natural peanut butter
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp red curry paste (comes in a little plastic pot in the ethnic aisles of most local grocery stores)
1-2 tsp chilli garlic sauce or sriracha sauce (remember my previous warning re spicy thresholds)
1 cup cashews, divided
1-2 cups chopped broccoli
1 red pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
2-3 limes, cut into wedges
Chopped cilantro
Optional: serve with rice – make as package directs
Method:
Cut the tofu into cubes and blot with towels to remove excess moisture – this will enhance the texture, trust me. Plug in your Instant Pot and set to “saute” – melt the coconut oil and add the onion. In a bowl, combine the coconut milk, peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, curry paste and chili garlic sauce and set aside.
Continue cooking the onion until softened and add the ginger, garlic and turmeric.
Once the ginger and garlic become fragrant, pour in the coconut milk mixture, the tofu and half of the cashews and bring to a bit of a boil.
Turn off the saute setting, close the lid and turn on to “manual” for five minutes – let the Instant Pot do its’ thing and when finished, manually release the steam. Once all the steam has purged, open the lid and add the broccoli and red pepper, then closing the lid again turn to “keep warm” for about ten minutes. While all that is going on, chop the last half of the cashews, the lime wedges and the cilantro and set aside for serving.
After that, dinner is served! Garnish the dish with chopped cashews, cilantro and a lime wedge. Once cooled, you can store this in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Shannon Yacyshyn is a recovering food blogger (the original Red Deer Foodie) who is passionate about trying new ways of cooking healthy foods in her kitchen. Find Kitchen Confessions Red Deer on Facebook.