The Not So Skinny Cook

Mommy’s Spanish Meatballs

Makes 36 meatballs, 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 3 lbs Beef (80/20), can sub ground pork
• 4 onions, finely diced
• 1 head garlic, finely diced
• 2T Worcestershire Sauce
• 2t fresh Thyme
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3-4 cups breadcrumbs
• 1 cup sherry (sub white wine if you don’t have sherry)
• 6-8 cups beef broth
• 3 bay leaves
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• French Bread (for serving)

Instructions

1. Prep meatballs
   1. Lay parchment paper on baking sheet, and use to put assembled meatballs on. Add breadcrumbs to a shallow bowl or plate. Set both aside.
   2. Mix together in a large bowl
      • 1/2 the onions
      • garlic
      • Worcestershire sauce
      • thyme
      • beaten eggs
      • salt and pepper to taste
   3. Add meat and mix well
   4. Make meatballs: form balls about 1.5 inches in diameter, roll in breadcrumbs, set on tray
2. Heat a thin layer of oil in a large pot (I used an enameled Dutch over) over medium to medium-high heats
3. Brown meatballs in batches, ensuring they are not touching, for a couple minutes on each side until medium brown. Add oil between batches if needed. Set aside when done. IF a lot of grease drain off all but 2 Tablespoons. (this takes ~45min to 1 hr)
4. In same pot brown the other 1/2 of diced onions, about 10-15 minutes.
5. Deglaze pan with sherry. Scrapes bits off bottom.
6. Add meatballs back to pan. Add bay leaves, 2-3T breadcrumbs (to thicken sauce) and beef broth to cover (or almost cover).
7. Reduce temp to low, cover, and cook for at least 20 minutes.
8. Taste, add salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce to your liking.
9. Serve in bowls with French Bread

Serves 6

This is a favorite, I’ve made it both with my crockpot and my pressure cooker, and I can’t tell much of a difference.

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, halved and sliced
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 low sodium soy sauce (1/2 cup if pressure cooker)
• 1/2 rice wine vinegar  (a little less than 1/4 cup if pressure cooker)
• 1 3lb whole chicken in 8 piece cut OR 6-8 chicken thighs (bone in, skinless)

Directions

1. Place chicken in the bottom of the cooker, then top with remaining ingredients.
2. Cook
   • Slow Cooker: Cook for 8 hours on low
   • Instapot: Set to Instapot poultry setting (12 minutes if you are not sure). Then let release naturally. (I believe if you adapted this to a regular pressure cooker it would be more like 10 minutes.)
3. Serve with coconut rice and a sautéed green vegetable and you have a full meal.

Serves 4-6

A main staple in our kitchen, this flavorful rice is easy and perfect every time in my pressure cooker. This batch usually lasts for 2 meals, but you can halve it and make a good meal for 2.

Ingredients

• 2 cups jasmine rice
• 2 tablespoons ginger, minced
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cup chicken stock (add a bit more if you like softer rice)
• 1/2 t spoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 T oil

Directions

1. Set your Instapot on sauté mode and heat oil. Once oil is hot add the ginger and cook until fragrant and soft, 5-8 minutes. Then turn to off.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Set the Instapot to 5 minutes, once cooking is complete let pressure release naturally for at least 10 minutes (even if floating value has dropped).

Creamy mushroom, lentil, and kale soup

Serves 4

This recipe looked delicious, however I made a few adaptations to make it even better:

1. When cooking the lentils I added 2 stalks of celery, 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Then I removed them when I drained the lentils. I reserved the liquid I drained and used that to thin the soup as it got too thick
2. I used chicken stock instead of veggie, milk instead of plant based milk, and real soy sauce
3. After adding everything (including the kale), I cooked it on low for another hour, this last step really thickened it up.

 Ingredients

• 1 cup green lentils
• 2 stalks celery, halved
• 1 onion halved
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium shallot2, fine dice (roughly 1/2 cup diced shallot)
• 1 lb mixed mushrooms, stemmed + sliced
• sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• ½ teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 cup milk
• 3-4 kale stalks, stems removed + leaves sliced (1 ½ packed cups of sliced kale)
  fresh bread or toasts, for serving

Directions

1. Cook lentils: In a medium pot cover lentils with water plus about an inch on top. Add the onion, 2 cloves of garlic, the celery, and a large pinch of salt. Simmer for 20 minutes or until just-tender. Drain, set liquid aside and remove the celery, onion, and garlic cloves.
2. In a heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until transparent but not crispy.
3. Add mushrooms and cook until softened, season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the last 3 cloves of garlic and thyme, and cook a few minutes until fragrant.
5. Add the white wine and soy sauce, stir.
6. Add the chicken stock and milk, return to a simmer.
7. Transfer half of the soup into a blender. Blend until creamy and add this back to the soup.
8. Add the lentils and the kale.
9. Bring back to a low simmer for 30 minutes.add the reserved liquid if the soup is too thick (use stock or water if you need more liquid). You can simmer this for another 1 hour or so if you want, just keep an eye on it.
10. Serve with bread or toast.