A guest post/recipe from Traysiah Spring and Tom Bakken. Excerpt from their recent book, Clean Green Eating, Plant-Based to Feel Great!
A favorite way of cooking is steaming, using a rice cooker. It is recommended to use a stainless-steel rice cooker with 1 or 2 steamer baskets for the top. It perfectly cooks a complete meal with very little effort. See below, a picture of a regular size and a small stainless-steel rice cooker.
You simply cut a variety of veggies and put them in the upper steamer basket(s), then cook a simple side dish in the bottom pot. Suggestions for side dishes – lentil soup, quinoa, pasta (gluten-free), or wild rice.
ORGANIC INGREDIENTS
A variety of your favorite vegetables –
Broccoli, Cauliflower, Celery
Leeks, Radishes, Bell Peppers
Asparagus, Brussel Sprouts, Zucchini
Carrots, Purple Cabbage, Peas,
Beets, Parsnips, Potatoes
Side dish suggestions for the bottom pot
Red Lentil Soup – add 1-2 cups of red lentils to a full pot of water
Quinoa – add 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water
Red Lentils & Quinoa mixed – (this is our favorite) add 1 cup of red lentils and ½ cup of quinoa to a full pot of water
Wild Rice – add 1 cup of wild rice to 3 cups of water
Brown Rice – add 1 cup of brown rice to 2 ½ cups of water
Gluten-Free Pasta – Add pasta to the water after the vegetables have cooked for about 15 min’s
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the rice cooker by filling the bottom pot with filtered water. The amount of water depends on what you choose to put in the bottom pot. See above for suggestions.
Add your choice of side dish into the water of the pot – lentils, quinoa, pasta, or rice. (See above for amounts.)
Turn the rice cooker on – to cook. This will start warming up the water as you chop the veggies.
Depending on how many people you are feeding, chop enough vegetables to fill one or two steamer baskets. Then put the vegetables in the steamer basket(s), fairly evenly.
Put the lid on the rice cooker and let it do its thing. It will cook for about 20-30 minutes, then it will click and turn to warm. You can come back at your leisure and the food will be ready and warm for you to eat.
You can spice it after it steams or create a simple sauce to pour over it.
Enjoy your clean green steamed meal!
