This is not your mother’s pressure cooking. When I changed my diet 25 years ago, I was doing a lot of pressure cooking, macrobiotic-style, using a jiggle top type cooker. I was nervous everytime I used that kind of pressure cooker, but those days are over. The new generation of pressure cookers are safe and easier to use. But, for many, myself included, pressure cooking still seems daunting. Well, here is my friend and colleague, the very smart Jill Nussinow, RD, aka The VeggieQueen to the rescue.
The fact is, for the exponentially growing number of people who eat vegan, a pressure cooker is a blessing when it comes to saving time and enjoying a wider variety of foods on a regular basis. The pressure cooker drastically shortens the cooking times of healthful vegan staples such as dried beans and grains. Roasted Pepper and White Bean Dip and braised artichokes could become weeknight meals. In Vegan Under Pressure, Jill shows how to use the appliance easily, safely and effectively, while showing us the wide variety of vegan dishes that can be made quickly with the aid of a pressure cooker. Recipes inlcude , Homemade Hummus, Harissa-Glazed Carrots with Green Olives, Pozole Chili, Farro Salad with Tomatoes and Arugula, Thai Summer Vegetable Curry, a chapter of veggie burgers, Cornbread, Pear-Almond Upside Down Cake, and DIY soy milk and seitan.
Tapioca Berry Parfait
Serves 4
Making dessert doesn’t get much easier than this. Be sure to use a 6-quart (or larger) cooker as this gets very foamy, which can clog the vent or cause spewing liquid in a smaller pot. Make a double batch if you have enough room; it’s that good.
Ingredients
- ½ cup small pearl (not instant) tapioca
- 2 cups almond or any nondairy milk
- Pinch of salt, optional
- ¼ cup organic sugar or blonde coconut palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 cups fresh berries of your choice, sliced as needed
- Fresh mint, for garnish
Preparation
- Place the tapioca pearls in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under running water for 30 seconds.
- Add the milk to a pressure cooker. Add the tapioca and salt, if using, and stir. Lock on the lid. Bring to high pressure; cook for 4 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally. Quick release any remaining pressure after 20 minutes. Open the lid carefully, tilting it away from you.
- Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest.
- Spoon 2 tablespoons berries into the bottom of 4 pretty bowls or parfait glasses. Add about ¼ cup tapioca, then 3 tablespoons berries. Add another ¼ cup tapioca and top with berries. Garnish with mint.
Variation: If stone fruits are in season, substitute chopped stone fruit for the berries.
Text excerpted from Vegan Under Pressure, © 2015 by Jill Nussinow. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. Photo © Lauren Volo.
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