Do you have an Instant Pot? I love my Instant Pot Duo!!!

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EXCITEMENT & INTIMIDATION

I was excited and a little intimidated by it when I first got my Instant Pot for Christmas a couple of years ago. I searched for recipes on Pinterest. I bought an Instant Pot Cookbook (or two). I followed the directions and made some great things. Coconut milk yogurt, Hard boiled eggs, Sauces and I even made Organic Brats in the Instant Pot when I ran out of gas for my grill unexpectedly. They were fantastic!

USE IT OR LOSE IT

Then, like all novel kitchen appliances, the Instant Pot Duo was relegated to my cupboard, life got busy and I forgot about it. One day, when I was on a mission to purge all of the unnecessary items from my home, I saw the Instant Pot sitting idle in my cupboard. I did not want to part with this particular kitchen item. The Instant Pot was not novel, the Instant Pot was essential!! But, like my rule with old sweaters when I am doing a purge, I had to use it or lose it. This is when the magic happened.

CREATIVITY

I got out my Instant Pot Duo and opened my refrigerator. I had a big bag of asparagus from Costco that I was intending to roast and I had an onion and some garlic. Away I went! I set the Instant Pot to Saute Mode and added some coconut oil and my onions and garlic. I sauteed until they were tender and fragrant. I added a little organic vegetable broth to deglaze the pot and then added my cut up asparagus and sauteed that for a few minutes. I added about half the box of Organic Vegetable Broth, a bit of pink salt, put the lid on the pot and set it to SEALING. I set the pot to cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. When it was done I let it sit for a little longer, maybe 10 minutes or so. I released the steam, opened the pot and got out my magic wand, a.k.a. immersion blender. Poof! I had asparagus soup.

MEMORIES

This made me think of the asparagus pie my mom made when I was little. She would go “asparagus hunting” along the creek bed and return with a bag full of asparagus. She would steam it until it was just tender and mix it with a slurry of butter, flour and milk. Then she would add hard boiled eggs, chives and seasonings. All this went into two pie crusts, topped with shredded cheddar cheese and was ready to bake… right then or later. I love that childhood memory and that pie.

TRANSFORMATION

I am gluten free now but that memory was happily floating in my mind. I boiled some eggs and decided to be a bit more creative and see if I could make a gluten free slurry. I remembered it was 1:1:1, One tablespoon of butter, One tablespoon of flour, One cup of milk. I used butter flavored coconut oil, tapioca flour and milkadamia milk. I found that I used a bit less milk to get the slurry I wanted so next time I would use a bit more tapioca flour. I blended this in with my soup and served it in a bowl with a chopped hard boiled egg, a little shredded cheddar cheese and a few almond flour crackers. Success! Now the memory was on my tongue and in my belly too!

CREATE FOR YOURSELF

I have found this method to work with just about any vegetable to turn it into soup, with or without the slurry. You can also peel and cut up a potato and add it to the pot with the vegetables and this thickens the soup up nicely too. I avoid nightshade vegetables so I stick with the slurry.

ENDLESS HEALTHY POSSIBILITIES

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, consider getting and Instant Pot Duo. They have really come down in cost and the creative possibilities are endless. Side note: I haven’t used my crock pot in over 2 years, this may be the thing to go at my next purge.

RECIPE

You can make the slurry below and simply mix into the soup in the pot.

Slurry

Creative Additions

Spices: Chives, Turmeric, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Marjoram, Parsley, Savory

Hard Boiled Egg

Almond Flour Crackers

… Anything you’d like.

Enjoy!

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