Eat Your Greens! Instant pot greens and beets

Perhaps some or many of you already know this secret, but I made an amazing discovery this week and I would call it life changing! I was really last on board the train when the Instant Pot craze hit - I admit it. But after 2 weeks of using it, that was life changing as well! So why did it take me like a year or so after using my instant pot to think, Hmmm. how bout I cook up a whole batch of greens in my Instant pot, put it in the fridge and eat it all week? This past Tuesday I had that brilliant thought and then I went online to see if someone had posted a "recipe" and voila - YES and was written by a Registered Dietician that gave more amazing advice about how to optimize your greens for the most bioavailable form! So the guesswork was already done - And here is that website so you can read all the science about sprinkling on a magic ingredient to help our bodies absorb all the green goodness https://fueledbyinstantpot.com/instant-pot-insta-greens/ (hint mustard powder - I forgot to do that this week).

So basically I took my whole batch of greens, cleaned them, removed the stems of the kale and chopped the bottoms off of the dandelion greens. The hardest part really was chopping them all up into small pieces. As far as prep goes, I washed and chopped the dandelion and kale first, then the mustard greens and about 2 cups of arugula. (I measured 19 cups of raw greens).

I set my Instant pot on saute and added about 2 tsp of my pastured bacon fat until it melted then turned the pot off. Into the pot went the greens layered with the "hardest" greens on the bottom kale, then dandelion then mustard and arugula (remember that greens have water and cook way down, so 19 cups of chopped greens all went into the pot even though it was a tad over the do not fill line). I then added 3/4 cup organic pastured chicken broth. Usually for the 6 Qt. Instant pot you usually use 1 cup of liquid. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of broth, but I didn't want to chance getting the burn notice and I thought the 3/4 cup was perfect. So I poured the broth into the pot. I may have tamped down the greens, secured the lid and set for 3 minutes on high pressure. I did a natural release for 5 minutes, vented the rest of the steam until the button falls and then opened the pot. I used tongs to mix up all the greens and the subtle bacon flavor from the little bit of fat on the bottom was amazing! Otherwise, I didn't season them at all. Into a 10 cup rectangular ziploc container set on my counter to cool and into the fridge they went. Of course you can season them or add leeks, onions and garlic or season as you use them throughout the week!

Before I cooked the greens, I also cooked all of my beets in the instant pot. I put 1 cup of water in the pot, then added a trivet and steamer basket and layered all of the beets in and set on 20 minutes on high pressure. I did a natural release, removed the basket, filled the pot with cold water and let the beets sit in the water and the skins slipped off way easier than using the stovetop method. Then I sliced and put them all in the fridge to eat, use for salads, etc. and are amazing topped with a bit of balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction! Using my Instant pot for beets was amazing - you don't need to watch the pot and regardless of the size of the beet, they were all cooked evenly from large ones to small ones!

My husband commented this morning that it was amazing to have the cooked greens in the fridge. Our household now only consists of us and a full share - and ALL of our greens were gone by Friday night! The original website recipe gave ideas for how to use them - also think pizza topping. (I've been going through dental work so I've been on a soft diet for the past couple of weeks so this "discovery" was a welcome addition to my diet!) Twice I used about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of greens in a skillet with 3 eggs topped with avocado. I made my "Instant pot Stroganoff" with mushrooms, leeks, garlic, a pound of ground turkey and a box of "Chickpea" brand pasta (made from chickpeas and red lentils). I saute 2 cups of leeks in 1 T of olive oil in the Instant pot, then add the meat and garlic, loosely cover the lid and let it cook for a few minutes then break it up until it's cooked then turn off the pot. (I add about 1 T coconut aminos and 1 T Bragg cider vinegar plus pepper, 1 T smoked paprika and some onion and garlic powder at this point). Then I dump in the box of 8 oz pasta, pour in a quart of broth and mix. Then I top 20 oz of sliced or diced mushrooms (either white or brown - do not re-mix). I sealed the pot and set it for 6 minutes on high pressure. When the pot beeps, I do a gradual release right away - gradually letting the steam escape - when the button falls, open the pot. Then I add 1/2 cup Kite Hill almond yogurt and 1 1/2 T of dijon mustard.

The pasta does break up some, but even my husband calls it a "go to recipe" (and he's not gluten or dairy free like me). When I first came up with the recipe he said, "Wow that really tastes like stroganoff!" This week after my amazing greens discovery, he added a helping of greens to the stroganoff & said it was amazing. I've also made this "stroganoff" recipe following the same instructions, but rather than a ground meat, I've sauteed the mushrooms with the onion or leek and after adding the pasta & broth, I set a couple of pastured pork chops rubbed with spice on top. When it's done, I remove the pork with tongs, then add in the rest of the ingredients, cut the pork up and add in. If you are a non-meat eater, I'm sure you can use any plant based crumbles and adjust any spices to your liking.