Slow Cooker Black Bean Chili with Kahlua

This black bean chili is a little bit naughty, but mostly nice as we round the corner into the new year. Quite honestly, I'm not sure the world needs another chili recipe, but this one checks a number of boxes that are sometimes tricky to check. It's vegan. It's flavor-forward. It's hearty, and feisty, and easy to tweak (more heat, less heat, etc). It's perfect for a slow cooker, and it has a wild card ingredient - Kahlua. But don't worry, the alcohol cooks off, and the liquor just leaves a nice bass note of sweet coffee-ness. Not too much sweet, just a kiss, and I think it gets balanced out by the cumin and cayenne in most chili powders, and the smokiness of the chipotle. Slow cooker black bean chili for the weeknight win. I've also include notes for a stovetop version, and Instant Pot (pressure cooker) version, so everyone can come along.

I know, black bean chili is pretty much the Birkenstock of slow cooker staples, but I wanted to take a fresh look at it, and lock down a good go-to version with pay-off. Also, to write a recipe that doesn't have thirty ingredients, but tastes like it does. ;)

Shout out to my friend Chris at Bi-Rite Market, who always listens to me thinking out loud about what I'm working on. I was running through all the typical black bean chili wildcard ideas - pumpkin, orange juice, espresso, etc...We landed on Kahlua (before flirting with a whisky version)....and it turned out NICE!

Also, here's a shot of the Breville Fast Slow Pro. It was the multi-cooker I originally purchased. Unfortunately, it was damaged during shipping, and I replaced it with the Instant Pot DUO Plus 6 Qt 9-in-1. Then, Breville kindly sent me a new one to work with. Long way of saying, I've been testing, and experimenting with both now, and have a bit of a strengths/weaknesses chart going. I'm not going to do a product review at this point, just know, the recipes work in both.

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18 Recipes to Kick off your Post-Holiday Reset

It's increasingly difficult to get consensus on what makes the most healthful diet, but I think we can all agree that eating more nutrient-dense plants after an overly-indulgent holiday season is a positive thing. Putting a handful of new, veg-centric recipes into rotation this time of year can help move the needle in the right direction. Hopefully this will provide a bit of inspiration! Many of the recipes are easily adaptable, and weeknight friendly. Enjoy!

1. Garlic Lime Lettuce Wraps - I love these! Ginger and garlic tempeh rice, folded into lime-spiked lettuce wraps with lots of herbs, cucumber, and carrots. A one-pan meal that comes together in no time! Get the recipe here.

2. Quick Vegan Enchiladas with Sweet Potato Sauce - These are knock-out delicious, in the oven in less that ten minutes, and a healthful alternative to all the heavy cheese versions out there. With black beans, sweet potatoes, and a stealthy turmeric boost.Get the recipe here.

3. Spicy Tahini Noodles with Roasted Vegetables - A weeknight winner! Make a simple, thinned-out tahini sauce, roast some vegetables while your pasta water is coming to a boil, toss and serve on one platter. If you like those old-school Chinese restaurant spicy peanut noodles, these are sort-of their tahini slathered distant cousinsGet the recipe here.

4. California Tom Yum Soup - The perfect antidote to holiday over-indulgence. This version is a distant relative of the vibrant, brothy tom yum soup you likely know and love. Get the recipe here.

5. Last Minute Red Lasagna - A true weeknight lasagna. No pre-cooking sauces, no pre-cooking noodles. You, literally, stir the first five ingredients together into a vibrant crushed tomato sauce, and start layering. Also, it isn't a cheese bomb.Get the recipe here.

6. Ten Ingredient Alkalizing Green Soup - Ten ingredients in a blender and you've got a potent, alkalizing green soup - spinach, herbs, garlic, with silky coconut cream, and some green split peas for staying power. Get the recipe here.

7. Chickpea Cauliflower Korma - A riff on the Chickpea Cauliflower Korma recipe in Jennifer Iserloh's The Healing Slow Cooker - chickpeas, cauliflower, combined with a not-shy simmer sauce. (conventional / Instantpot versions) Get the recipe here.

8. Vibrant, Vegan Double Broccoli Buddha Bowl - Made with seven ingredients on green overdrive. You double up on broccoli through a coconut green curry pesto and florets, then toss with a quinoa base. Get the recipe here.

9. Immunity Soup - A soup built on a monster white pepper broth. White pepper with jolts of ginger, and stabs of garlic - clear and strong topped with tofu, mushrooms, watermelon radish, and lots of green onions. Get the recipe here.

10. Orange Pan-glazed Tempeh - The best tempeh recipe I've highlighted to date - it features a simple ginger and garlic-spiked orange glaze that plays of the nutty earthiness of the pan-fried tempeh beautifully. Get the recipe here.

11. Chia Breakfast Bowl - So easy, so good! Soak the chia seeds in your favorite nut milk, top with smashed berries, fresh passionfruit juice, pepitas, and big flakes of toasted coconut. A bit of bee pollen adds a boost and some pretty. Get the recipe here.

12. Sriracha Rainbow Noodle Salad - A radiant, color-flecked tangle of noodles, cabbage, shredded carrots, pickled sushi ginger, and an abundance of cilantro, basil, and scallions. It has tofu and peanuts, coconut, ginger, avocado, and hemp seeds. Get the recipe here.

13. Mung Yoga Bowl - The kind of bowl that keeps you strong - herb-packed yogurt dolloped over a hearty bowl of mung beans and quinoa, finished with toasted nuts and a simple paprika oil. Get the recipe here.

14. Vegetable Noodle Soup - This vegetable noodle soup is as simple, direct, and delicious as it gets. Vegetarian and vegans looking for an alternative to chicken noodle soup, try this! Get the recipe here.

15. Anna's California Miso Avocado Salad - So good! A California-inspired Miso, Avocado, & Bean Salad from A Modern Way to Eat, by Anna Jones. Seasonal greens and beans are tossed with an assertive, creamy miso dressing. There are crunchy seeds, and broccoli, and avocado - it all comes together into a brilliant, beautiful, feel-good salad.Get the recipe here.

16. Rainbow Cauliflower Rice - Lightly cooked cauliflower is chopped, then tossed, with turmeric, cumin, cayenne, and a touch of ghee - add sliced avocado, hard-boiled eggs, toasted seeds, rainbow chard stems, lettuces. Get the recipe here.

17. Mushroom Stroganoff - This fantastic vegan mushroom stroganoff is a total crowd-pleaser. You can make it in an Instant Pot, or stovetop. Made with caraway-spiked vodka, and a hearty mushroom base, you get all of what you love about mushroom stroganoff, without the all the butter and cream. Get the recipe here.

18. Winter Green Miso Paste - Keep this on hand for flash-quick, healthy meals. A herbaceous, green miso paste with some garlic bite, rounded out with lots of scallions, cilantro, ginger, and some rosemary. Plus ten simple ways to use it. Get the recipe here.

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40 Essential Instant Pot Links

Because I've been experimenting with the Instant Pot quite a bit lately, I've been getting a lot of questions. Many times my answer is a link. A link to a video, or a link to a recipe, or technique. So! I thought I'd compile all those helpful links into one list. It's (hopefully) a list that will help answer many of your initial questions. There's a video that will walk you through your initial water test, a handful of helpful accessories, favorite recipe links, etc. I'll update and add to it over time. Enjoy!

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VIDEOS
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1. Instant Pot Water Test
2. Instant Pot Quick Start Guide
3. Pressure Luck's Top Ten Instant Pot Tips
4. Instant Pot Mushroom Stroganoff Video
5. How to Clean your Instant Pot Liner

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OFFICIAL INSTANT POT
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6. The official Instant Pot site
7. The official Instant Pot FAQ
8. The official Instant Pot recipe database.
9. The official (high-volume) Facebook community
10. The official Instant Pot Cookbook: The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook
11. The official Instant pot user manual
12. This is the Instant Pot I use.

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RECIPES - A FEW FAVORITES
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13. Instant Pot Mushroom Stroganoff with Vodka (most popular!)
14. Instant Pot Chickpea Cauliflower Korma
15.Instant Pot Fiasco Beans
16. Instant Pot Indian-spiced Simmer Sauce
17. Instant Pot Minestrone Soup
18. Instant Pot Brown Rice Bowl with Chickpeas (PIP)
19. 10 Minute Instant Pot Mushroom Broth

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GUIDES & REFERENCES
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20. How To Use an Instant Pot: A Guide by Melissa Clark (NY Times)
21. This is How to Become an Instant Pot Whisperer (101 Cookbooks)
22. Pressure Cooking Time Chart - a good range. (HIP Cooking)
23. Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans & Pressure Cooking Guide (PDF)
24. How to Clean an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
25. Instant Pot Starter Guide for Me & You (101 Cookbooks)

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ARTICLES
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26. Why Do Cooks Love the Instant Pot? I Bought One to Find Out (NY Times)
27. The Instant Pot Cult is Real (TASTE)

28. The Instant Pot Is a Phenomenon--and Indian Cooks Are Using It in the Most Creative Ways (Mother Jones)

29. Inside the Home of Instant Pot, the Kitchen Gadget That Spawned a Religion (NY Times)

30. Send Help: I'm (Kind Of) Falling in Love With the Instant Pot (Food52)
31. The Instant Pot's Master Plan to Invade all of our Kitchens (Bon Appétit)
32. I Tried The $99 Kitchen Gadget That Everyone's Obsessed With (Buzzfeed)

33. After Cooking All My Meals in an Instant Pot for a Week, I Get What All the Hype Is About (Self)

34. So you Got an Instant Pot, Now What? (Wire Cutter)

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MORE RECIPE INSPIRATION
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35. Most Popular Instant Pot Recipes from 2017 (The Kitchn)

(I'll add more here over time!)
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INSTANT POT ACCESORRIES
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36. A glass lid: A lot of people buy this to use when slow cooking in the IP, I just use a lid I already have for now.

37. Extra sealing rings: The rings tend to pick up the scent of whatever you're cooking. Keep an extra ring on hand so your cakes don't end up smelling like chili ;)

38. Wire racks: For eggs, veggies, or for lifting containers off of the floor of the pot when doing pot-in-pot cooking.
39. A nice sized steamer basket.
40. For cakes, and other things you would normally bake.

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Instant Pot Chickpea Cauliflower Korma

Today's recipe is a fantastic mash-up of sorts. It's an Insta-friendly riff on the Chickpea Cauliflower Korma recipe in Jennifer Iserloh's The Healing Slow Cooker. I paired it with the high-impact Indian-spiced Simmer Sauce from Coco Morante's The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook. If you have a simmer sauce on hand, whether it's this aforementioned one, or a store-bought version you love, this couldn't come together more quickly. It's the perfect vehicle to get all sorts of goodness into your body in one, delicious sitting.

I love this recipe because it's absolutely packed with power ingredients, including a nice range of fragrant spices. I like to think I get a lot of spice in my diet, but I think the real key is integrating spice blends into lots of meals. Not just a few times a week, but daily. For example, the simmer sauce has coriander, cayenne, cumin, turmeric, paprika, and whatever spices are in your garam masala blend. It's how you shift from single notes to a chord.

No problem if you don't have an Instant Pot, a stovetop version is a breeze as well, and I'll include guidelines for that down below!

Side note - Another way to get a medley of spices and power-ingredients into your meals are pastes. That's part of the reason I love strong curry pastes like this one, or a boosted miso paste like this one.

Continue reading Instant Pot Chickpea Cauliflower Korma...

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Instant Pot Indian-spiced Simmer Sauce

I'm slipping this incredibly fragrant and feisty Indian-spiced simmer sauce in here this morning in preparation for a recipe I'm going to post tomorrow (I'll put the link here when it's ready). This tomato-based, ginger-slammed, garam masala-boosted simmer sauce is a riff on Coco Morante's version in The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook, and I suspect it will become a staple sauce for many of you. The recipe makes about six cups of sauce - perfect for using some, refrigerating some, freezing some. And no worries if you don't have an Instant Pot, I suspect a stovetop, or even a slow cooker version of it would be equally wonderful. I use it as the base of the recipe I'll post tomorrow, but I've also used it this week on a cauliflower pizza crust, along with a sprinkling of chickpeas, and a bit of paneer for Indian-spiced pizzas (quick lunch), and I'm going to use it on a garlicky, whole wheat crust tonight for dinner. It's nice as a sandwich spread, a dipping sauce for broiled broccoli, or for chana masala. Generally speaking, it's just flat out delicious, and you'll have no trouble thinking of clever ways to use it up. If you make some some today, I promise you won't regret having it on hand to make quick work of tomorrow's recipe. Consider it a homework assignment! ;)

I made a few tweaks to Coco's recipe. I used fire-roasted tomatoes because I thought it'd give the sauce some nice depth, and it's what I had on hand. Fantastic. Also, I slashed the pressure release time way down, opting for ten minutes of natural pressure release, because the extra 15 minutes seemed like too long for me to wait for something that smelled as good as this did! Enjoy!

Continue reading Instant Pot Indian-spiced Simmer Sauce...

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