Appliance Love

I’ve found a new boyfriend. He’s short, squat and boy can he cook! He’s my brand new rice cooker.

I’m not a cooking fiend by any means. I can hold my own and after a few shots might get a recipe right. Gourmet cooking is for those with patience. Thus, it’s not for me.

That’s where my new boyfriend comes in. In the past, I’ve bought these $20 rice cookers and they always die before they’re two years old. In fact, I think I’ve had something like four of them now. It kills me to toss all that hardware into the landfill every two years. So this time I decided to spend a little more in hopes the thing might live to see three.

I had two hungry kids in tow, so I didn’t have a lot of time to research. I had my 20% off one item coupon at Bed Bath & Beyond and they had two cookers on the shelf. I went with the $49.95 one as opposed to the $79.95 one.

It wasn’t until I got the little guy home that I realized he was capable of doing more than making rice. This hot appliance can warm up to a boil then simmer for a set period of time, it knows the difference between brown rice (my favorite) and white rice (Hubby’s starch of choice) so it will stay on the right amount of time. It also has a delay start option, perfect for soaking beans before cooking (if you’re into that kind of thing – see afore mentioned reference to lack of patience). It even came with a few recipes.

So as the kids slept I pulled him out of his box, washed him and put him to work. A friend had told me about how she throws lentils, quinoa and a few spices together with a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil and her kids eat it like it’s going out of style. I figured I’d give that a whirl.

Then I discovered the recipe for lentil soup in the back of his instruction book. It had everything I’d planned to throw in, but suggested chicken stock instead of water and a few vegis. Since I have a severe distaste for celery, I skipped that, but added a can of diced tomatoes and a carrot. And I added the quinoa for good measure. Then I set this incredible new man in my life on boil for 35 minutes and he went to work. Once the boil started, the timer started counting down. He beeped to tell me that the counter started then beeped to tell me it was done. I could play with the kids while he cooked. Perfect man!

The coolest thing was the kids LOVED the meal. Mr. Man shoveled it in as fast as he could swallow and Sweetness took some of the biggest bites of her current picky eating stage. Double score.

Now if this time saving, mess reducing, master of my kitchen could only wash himself, we’d be in serious business.

I’m looking forward to all the steaming, boiling, stewing, rice cooking days we will have together.

If what I wrote sounded tastey, here is the modified recipe:

Heligirl’s Lentil Quinoa Stew of Yumminess

1 cup dried lentils (I used red in bulk from Safeway)
1 cup quinoa (also in bulk)
1 large carrot diced
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
Two pinches of sea salt
2 Tablespoons coconut oil (you can get this at health food stores or supplement stores)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Rinse the lentils and quinoa. Put all the in the cooker (or a pot if you’re not so lucky as me to have such a wonderful boyfriend). Bring to a boil then simmer, covered, 35 minutes.

Tagged as: recipe, rice cooker