Smoky Baked Beans in the Instant Pot

My family loves baked beans. We have the canned version often but today I decided to make them myself with the Instant Pot!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dried Great Northern Beans, sorted and rinsed
• Pinch of salt
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tbsp liquid smoke
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp chili powder

Directions:

1. Sort beans and remove any foreign material. Rinse thoroughly. Transfer to a medium saucepan and cover in an inch of water. Add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, allow beans to cook for one minute, then remove from heat and soak, covered, for at least one hour. Drain and rinse after soaking.
2. Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode. Add olive oil. Sauté onion and bell pepper until onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook for one minute.
3. Turn off Instant Pot and stir in 2 cups water and the beans.
4. In a bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Add to the beans and stir well.
5. Place lid on Instant Pot and set to sealing. Use the manual setting, high pressure, and set timer for 45 minutes.
6. Allow pressure to release naturally for at least 15 minutes.
7. When pressure is released, remove lid and stir before serving.

Lentil & Oat “Meatloaf”

We have had a bag of dried lentils in our pantry for a few months. We usually use them for soup or burgers but I decided to try something new tonight…a “meatloaf” made of lentils, steel-cut oats, and rolled oats. It was pretty easy to make and definitely delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dried lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable broth
• 3/4 cup steel-cut oats
• 1 cup water, boiling
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup ketchup + 3 tablespoons for topping
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter or other nut butter
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper optional

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, add the lentils and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and turn the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
2. Add the steel-cut oats and cup of boiling water. Cover again and cook for 10 more minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375. Grease a glass loaf pan with a small amount of olive oil or cooking spray and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
4. When the lentils and steel-cut oats are cooked, remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
5. Transfer to the loaf pan. Top with 3 tablespoons of ketchup.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes.
7. Remove foil and bake uncovered for 8-10 minutes.
8. Allow loaf to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Vegan Southern Black-Eyed Peas

Black-eyed peas are one of the staples of a Southern kitchen. Most cooks in the South prepare them with animal fat and meat. However, it is possible to cook a perfectly flavorful dish without harming a single animal!

My husband, Eric and I are runners and we are working on getting into shape for some races that we have planned. We have had a lot of bread and carbs lately, but tonight we decided to cut out the carbs and go for a more nutritious meal. Instead of serving the black-eyed peas with rice, I made cauliflower “rice” and instead of bread or potatoes we had baked carrot chips. It was a filling meal but not too heavy. Perfect for the night before a workout!

I cooked the black-eyed peas in my new Instant Pot. I’m having so much fun learning to cook with it! I cut the cauliflower into florets and put them in our Ninja blender to pulse them into “rice”.

Here are the recipes:

Ingredients:

• ½ white onion, diced
•  2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
•  2 tablespoons olive oil
•  ½ teaspoon paprika
•  ½ teaspoon chili powder
•  1 ½ cups dried black-eyed peas, sorted and rinsed but not soaked
•  3 cups water
•  2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Dice the onion and press the garlic cloves.
2. Place the oil in the pressure cooker and set it to sauté. When it is heated, add the onion and sauté until it is translucent. Add the garlic, paprika, and chili powder and stir for a minute.
3. Add the rinsed black-eyed peas and the water.
4. Place the lid on the pressure cooker. Make sure that the vent is sealed.
5. Place the cooker on the manual (pressure cook) mode and set the time for 25 minutes.
6. Release the pressure naturally. Make sure that you do not open the lid until the pressure has released.
7. Before serving, stir in the nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper.

This will make 2 generous servings.

Cauliflower “Rice”

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower, washed
•  ¼ cup of water
•  ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut the cauliflower into florets.
2. Place 1/3 of the florets in a blender or food processor. Pulse until crumbled. Repeat until all florets have been crumbled.
3. Add the crumbled cauliflower and the water to a skillet. Cook on medium-high heat until water is absorbed and cauliflower is tender (approximately 5 minutes).
4. Stir in salt and pepper before serving.

This makes 2 servings of cauliflower rice.

 

My Southern Vegan Family

Hello, I’m Kelsey. I have always lived in the South, and I have been a vegan for 8 years. During this time, veganism has exploded and it has become so much easier to find vegan options! Grocery stores carry vegan cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and even the VeganEgg! However, there are still many restaurants in the South that do not offer any decent plant-based options. My family has a small circle of restaurants that we frequent but most of our meals are made at home.

I decided to create this blog to share my family’s recipes with other vegans in the South (and around the world). My husband and I have decided to raise our son vegan also. He is almost 11 months old and he is at the top of his growth charts and incredibly smart, so we believe that we have made the right decision!