Rice Cooker- more than just Rice.....

When I moved to Hawaii, I basically had to fit everything into 2 suit cases.  So I got rid of alot of my stuff.  The only thing I brought with me is my Vitamix, which is one of the best investments I've made (more to come in another post).

I just purchased a new Rice Cooker, which I highly recommend.  I bought it at Costco for $31.99, well worth it.  It has a slow cooker feature which replaces a crockpot, nice!  It will also steam and has a delay feature so you can put everything in the morning and time it to be done at any time.

It will do way more than just Rice. I will be giving you lots of recipe ideas since most of my recipes will now be done in this.  See my Marinated, Browned Tempeh post.  However if you don't have one, you can still cook everything on the stove.

Here are some things that I will be doing in it:

*Dried Beans, no need to pre-soak, just add extra water and set slow cooker for 6 hours, checking occasionally, when done, drain extra water. I will experiment with this, I think you could also pre-soak beans and set on "Brown Rice" setting which would only take about 2 hours.  tip- I always add a few pieces of dried seaweed to cut down on the gassy-ness (is that a word?), any variety will work, purchase from Asian section at store. 

*Lentils, rinse first, add 1 to 3 ratio of water and set on "White Rice", it will take about 30- 45 mins.  You could use veg broth or any seasoning as well.

*Quinoa, rinse first, add 1 to 2 ratio water, set on "White Rice", will take about 15- 20 mins. You could use veg broth or any seasoning as well.

*Sauted Vegetables, start on "Steam" function and let inner pot get hot, add veggies, close lid for a few minutes then open and stir, adding liquid if needed until done.

*Steamed Vegetables, add water in pot, place veggies in steam basket, press "Steam" button and walk away, it will shut off when done.  The only bad thing about steaming is the juices that drip down into the pan are full of nutrients. I usually save the liquid, let it cool and use it as a broth for other cooking or in my Green Smoothies.

*Browning Tempeh, start on "Steam" function and let inner pot get hot, add marinate Tempeh, close lid for a few minutes, open and turn once browned on one side, about 3- 5 minutes.  Do the same on the other side. Easy!

*Soups, add all ingrediets and either set on "Slow Cook" or on "White Rice" depending on how long you want to cook or how long the ingredients will take.

I have an idea to do a layered Vegan Lasagna that I will experiment with and do a post if it works, stay tuned for more ideas!