As you seek to lead a healthier lifestyle, it’s always best to be proactive with your choices. It implies that you actively seek out healthy choices, well before you face any issues. For example, if you live in an area with low hours of sunlight – like in the North – don’t wait to see signs of a Vitamin D deficiency. Instead, eat a diet rich in Vitamin D, or use a patch for it.

 

In the same vein, switching to cooking in an Instant Pot is a smart choice if you want to subscribe to a fitter way of life. The popularity of this device is spreading like wildfire, and the reasons for it are certainly convincing. They include:

  1. Since the cooking environment is closed, more nutrients are retained.
  2. The Instant Pot cooks food much, much faster. So, when you’re short of time, it’s always easy to cook something healthy instead of going for that greasy takeaway.
  3. Because you can cook in big batches, there are a plethora of healthy meal prep options available.
  4. Once you’ve set the pot to cook, you can do other things, while it does its stuff. 
  5. While the cooking takes place under higher pressure, the maximum temperature reached is not much higher than that of water boiling – again good for a higher nutrient value.

And just to prove that healthy cooking can be lip-smacking too, here are some delicious starters that are also rich in nutrients.

Boiled Eggs

Presenting the recipe for perfectly soft-cooked boiled eggs. Not hard. Not runny. Just melt-in-your-mouth soft! This dish is rich in lean protein, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin D, and B vitamins.  

Ingredients

  • 1 to 6 eggs, large+ 
  • 1 cup of water

Instructions

  1. Pour in the water, and put in a trivet or steamer basket.
  2. Place the eggs in, and seal the lid.
  3. Select manual, and cook on low pressure for 3 minutes. (Make it 4 minutes for medium-cooked and 5 minutes for hard-cooked eggs)
  4. Let the pressure release naturally. Then, take the eggs out, and put them in a cool-water bowl for a minute.
  5. Peel and serve immediately.

Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage rolls with turkey in them are low in fat and high on deliciousness. The combination of turkey, cabbage, and avocado oil packs a punch in nutrients that reads like the who’s who of the healthfood niche. They include selenium, choline, zinc, niacin, the amino acid tryptophan, omega 3 fatty acids, manganese, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6. This cabbage rolls recipe from Corrie Cooks is sure to have you seeking seconds. 

 

Ingredients

  • 1 cabbage
  • 2 lb turkey, ground
  • 1 tbs avocado oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 onion, large, chopped
  • 6 ounces tomato paste
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 28 ounces canned and diced tomatoes
  • Salt & pepper, as per taste

 

Instructions

 

To make the filling

  1. Put the Instant Pot into Sauté mode.
  2. Put in the oil, garlic, and onion. Cook for 2 minutes.
  3. Place in the turkey, thyme, oregano, pepper, and salt. Let sauté for an additional 4 minutes. Stir continuously.

 

To make the rolls

  1. Take the cabbage leaves apart gently.
  2. Ladle the mixture into large cabbage leaves and roll individually. Place these in a bowl.
  3. Add water and a trivet into the Instant Pot. Place the bowl containing the cabbage rolls upon the trivet.
  4. Set to high pressure, and cook for 18 minutes.
  5. Allow the pressure to release naturally.

 

To make the sauce 

  1. Remove the bowl, water, and trivet from the Instant Pot.
  2. Put into Saute mode, and throw in tomato paste, diced tomatoes, garlic powder, pepper, and salt. Stir for 3 minutes and switch off.


Pour the sauce onto a plate, place the rolls on top, and serve.

 

Instant Pot Hummus

Hummus is one of those super healthy dishes that taste out of this world too. It can be used as an accompaniment to a salad, as a dip, or even eaten just by itself. The main ingredients of this dish are all super nutritious – chickpea, tahini (a kind of sesame paste), and lime. As expected, hummus is brimming with minerals and vitamins. The prominent vitamins include thiamin, niacin, folate, choline, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, and vitamin B6. Perhaps, the only better way to get more vitamins at one go is this proven multivitamin patch. In addition, the list of minerals includes calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium. 

 

Hummus is at its fluffy best when made with Chickpeas that are cooked fresh, and using this Instant Pot recipe reduces the typical cook time drastically.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dry chickpeas
  • 4 cups water (An additional 3 cups if soaking and draining the beans)
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 2 chopped cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1/4 tsp cumin, ground

 

To serve (if you so choose)

  • 2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp chopped parsley

 

Instructions

To cook the chickpea

If soaking the chickpeas:  

  1. Soak it in 4 cups of water and salt for 10 -12 hours (or overnight).
  2. Drain, and place in Instant Pot with 3 cups of water.
  3. Cook for 25 minutes under high pressure.
  4. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, and then do a quick release.

 

If you don’t have the time to soak the chickpeas:

  1. Place chickpeas in Instant Pot with 4 cups of water.
  2. Cook for 40 minutes under high pressure.
  3. Let pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, and then release the remaining steam quickly.

 

To make Hummus

  1. Put the drained chickpeas, with ¾ cup of the cooking liquid in a food processor. Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend well, till smooth and creamy.
  2. Add in the serving ingredients if desired.
  3. Serve.

 

The Instant Pot is more than just a utensil. It’s a lifestyle choice. It will help you sustain healthy eating habits. Combine it with the right supplements, vitamins, as well as minerals, and you could stay fit and healthy, even in your sunset years.