vegetarian ⁽¹⁴⁾

Have you had Golden Curry? It is the tongue-satisfying corporeal embodiment of the flavor: umami. It is stew, cooked in a fraction of the time it takes to cook stew. And it can be cooked entirely in the Instant Pot.

I know there are other Instant Pot Japanese Golden Curry recipes, but they all contain meat and use pressure. This one is just the sauté feature and is vegetarian, making it a dish that can be cooked anywhere there is a power outlet.

Golden curry is WORK though. Nothing minimal effort here. Lots of stirring and cutting on the front end. On the back end is a lot of waiting. This is probably why people in Japan only have this dish a few times a month.

I was craving Eggplant Parmesan (aka Eggplant Parmigiano), but I really, really hate making it myself. There's the slicing of the eggplant, the salting of the eggplant, the dabbing away of eggplant moisture, the breading of the eggplant, and I could go on forever.

So I usually buy this one. All the better to let someone else do the labors and me enjoy the flavors. My favorite Eggplant Parm dealer, Alfredo's Pizza Villa, has an option to serve it over pasta.

Could I recreate that at home? In the Instant Pot?

The answer is, "No." But I can come very close.

Do you have fruit that is about to go bad? This recipe will help you turn it into a muffin-cake type thing in no time. It is #vegetarian, but not vegan, on account of the eggs and yogurt; I have not tested this with dairy-free yogurt nor a functional egg substitute. I have tested the cornstarch-and-water egg substitute and the cake doesn't work well, but no egg substitutes beyond that. If you test dairy-free yogurt or find an egg substitute that works, give me a comment to let me know how it fares.

This cake works quite nicely as a sheet birthday cake (#birthdaycake), without the need to ice, as the fruit topping adds that extra delight that icing typically does. Tested at a 9 year old's birthday party to the happy smiles of all and the delight of parents that it only contains 1/2 cup of added sugar for the whole cake.

Happy Neurodiversity Week!

There are many types of #neurodiversity and #ADHD is just one of them. A lot of times, an Instant Pot is a godsend for the easily distracted, whether that be adult caregivers to children who have the urge to draw a masterpiece all over the living room in lipstick, or a person whose brain is the child trying to draw a masterpiece all over the neural-living room with cognitive-lipstick. Which is why so many of my recipes are written for people with low working memory and cover meals that would be faster and, some might find, easier to prepare without the Instant Pot. And today is no exception. Today, I present: boxed macaroni and cheese.

Have you ever had colcannon? A St. Patrick's day favorite, colcannon is an Irish potato recipe. [source] At its most essential, the colcannon recipe is mashed potatoes mixed with chopped cabbage or kale. Other additions like bacon, ham, scallions or yellow onions are also common. [source]

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm not Christian, but due to the influence that my religion has had on St. Patrick's Day, I like to celebrate it in all of its green and delicious mealed glory. And now so can you!