Read an Excerpt
Whether you are vegan or looking to integrate more meatless meals into your life, the Instant Pot is here to help. This electric, programmable pressure cooker is an incredibly versatile and useful appliance. In this cookbook, you’ll learn how to use it to make mod- ern and delicious plant-based recipes that everyone will love. These introductory pages will teach you the basics, and the recipes that follow will provide straightforward, specific instructions to get you pres- sure cooking right away.
As anyone who has used an Instant Pot can attest, it’s an astonishingly convenient, time-saving appliance, light-years ahead of previous generations of stove-top pressure cookers. It’s hyperefficient and whisper-quiet when foods are cooking under pressure. There’s no need to stand around and tend to an Instant Pot. Once a pressure cooking program begins, you can walk away until a series of beeps tell you the food is ready.
Pressure cookers are great for throwing together one-pot soups and stews and for prepping batches of beans and grains for a busy week ahead. There are some unique advantages for vegans, too. You can make batches of nondairy yogurt, seitan, and sausages from scratch, and even a one-ingredient caramel sauce (page 139) that will change your dessert game for good (if you can stop yourself from eating it all up by the spoonful, that is).
In the seven main chapters of this book, you’ll find recipes for every meal of the day, from a wide range of cuisines. There are vegan takes on American-style com- fort foods (think mac ’n’ cheese, chili and cornbread, and sour cream mashed potatoes), internationally inspired dishes (such as curry, tabbouleh, and cassou- let), and even some seriously impressive desserts, like brownie sundaes and cheeseless cheesecakes.
The Instant Pot is not only versatile, it helps you save money, too. Grocery shopping can be expen- sive, especially when you’re seeking out high-quality organic foods. Prepared foods dominate the super- market more and more these days, and not only are they expensive, they are often filled with processed ingredients. Going as unprocessed as possible is truly the best way I know to lower a grocery bill and eat healthfully. Cooking with in-season produce, dried beans and grains, and bulk-bin pantry staples costs far less in the long run, and the Instant Pot is a great tool to ease and speed up the preparation of healthful foods.
Whether you’re an Instant Pot beginner or just look- ing for a refresher course, read the next few pages to learn about all of the Instant Pot’s buttons, bells, and whistles. A whole world of modern pressure cooking awaits you.
