Instant Pot Sweet and Spicy Glazed Brussels Sprouts

I got this beautiful cookbook in the mail on Tuesday. I had forgotten I preordered it so it was A nice surprise. I don’t usually preorder cookbooks because I like to know there are recipes in the book I would like to cook. I have been disappointed by cookbooks too many times. However, I have 8 out of 9 of Urvashi Pitre’s cookbooks and I have never been disappointed with any of them.

This new cookbook didn’t disappoint either. The first recipe I opened the book to had not one but two of my favorite ingredients, Brussels sprouts and cranberries. I couldn’t resist that and it was delicious. In the head note to the recipe Urvashi states she knows that most people only like their Brussels sprouts roasted and she isn’t wrong. I was sorely tempted to roast the Brussels sprouts instead of cooking them in the Instant Pot because I believe the reason most people don’t like them is they have only had them boiled or steamed to death. I know that was certainly true in my case. There is a reason the people who follow Urvashi have a hash tag that says #trusturvashi. Urvashi’s recipes are always spot on.

This recipe would make a nice Thanksgiving side dish. Yeah. Thanksgiving is only 6 weeks away. Time to start planning that feast.

Sweet and Spicy Glazed Brussels Sprouts

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted From Instant Pot Miracle Vegetarian Cookbook

1 lb small Brussels sprouts, trimmed

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup orange marmalade

1 TBS butter, melted

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Chopped, toasted walnuts, optional

Pour 1 1/2 cups water into the pressure cooker liner. Place a steamer basket in the liner and add the Brussels sprouts and cranberries to the steamer basket.

Close the pressure cooker and lock the lid. Make sure the pressure cooker valve is sealed. Set the pressure to high and the time to 3 minutes. Use a quick release to depressurize.

Transfer the Brussels sprouts and cranberries to a serving bowl. Add the marmalade, butter, salt, cayenne and walnuts. Toss to combine. Serve hot.

Cocoa Cranberry Granola Bars

Today someone asked me if I do anything besides cooking and baking. I said yes but I don’t think she believed me so here are somethings I enjoy besides cooking.

1. Spending time with my pets. Although I don’t say much about them here, by far my favorite way to spend my time out of the kitchen is with my pets. I currently have 3 cockatiels, Squeak, Beau and Ella, 6 parakeets, Manny, Milo, Katie, Pepper, Eli, and Skyler, 2 finches, Tucker and Pearl and one rat, Missy. We train, hang out, and play together. They are a major part of my self care. I couldn’t imagine life without them.

Don’t know why they are in the box together

2. I love to watch TV and movies, especially since Covid started. Of course, I love cooking shows like Chopped, The Chef Show, and Somebody Feed Phil. I am also obsessed with the show River Monsters. In October all the best and worst, horror movies hit the streaming services and I am here for all of them. So far the worst horror movie I watched is Silent Hill. For a movie based on an absolutely terrifying game, the movie is oddly devoid of any scares or any tension of any kind. Its very boring.

3. I am currently spending a lot of time crocheting. I am crocheting dish clothes and dish scrubbies for my kitchen. When I am done with that I am going to start on project of making as many things out of these two books as I can as a Christmas present for a friend’s children. I am also going to make a bunch of these as magnets for my fridge because there aren’t many things cuter then tiny crocheted foods.

My yarn box over flows

So freaking cute

4. I play Trivial Pursuit with my friend, Steph. My family quit playing trivia with me years ago because the think I cheat. I don’t and never have. My “problem” is I have a tremendous memory for trivia. I can’t remember my name most days but I can remember the names of a minor character in a movie I saw once when I was 10. Its not my fault. Until I started playing with Steph I never met anyone who could keep up with me at trivia. We have so much fun playing.

So you can see that I do do other things other than cook and bake.

I made this recipe without toasting the grains and it still tasted amazing. Press the granola firmly into the pan because this is what keeps the bars from crumbling. pay special attention to the corners and very middle.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted From Sunbutter.com

1 1/2 tsp coconut oil

1 1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

2 TBS unsweetened coconut flakes

1/4 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

2 TBS butter, cut into pieces

2 1 /2 TBS honey

2 TBS Sunbutter

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover the bottom and sides of of a 4 cup baking dish with foil or parchment paper, use the coconut oil to grease the foil or paper, set aside. Spread the oats and sunflower seeds over a sheet pan and toast for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a medium bowl, combine the toasted oats and sunflower seeds,scoconut, cranberries and cocoa. Stir to combine.

In a small sauce pan, combine butter, honey, Sunbutter, vanilla and salt. Cook on low heat until the butter melts, stirring constantly. Pour the butter mixture of the grain and seed mixture, mix well.

Transfer the mixture to the foil lined pan and use a spatula to spread the mix into the corners and to the sides. Firmly press the mixture into the pan, paying close attention to the corners and the middle. Pressing the granola mixture firmly into the pan is what keeps the bars from crumbling so spend a minute making sure it is press into the pan all over.