Instant Pot Batch Cooking | DIY Vegan Yogurt and More with THE VEGGIE QUEEN

Soy Yogurt from Vegan Under Pressure

Makes 1 quart Culture for 8 to 12 hours or more
packet vegan yogurt starter, or 1 probiotic capsule, or 1 tablespoon commercial vegan yogurt with active cultures
1 (32-ounce) box plain (not enriched or fortified) organic soy milk (just beans and water), at room temperature (Some people have successfully done this Ripple Pea Milk but I find it too processed)
1. Add the yogurt starter, probiotic, or yogurt to the milk. Shake well in the box or pour into a quart glass jar and shake well. If in the box, transfer to a quart jar, 2 pints or smaller jars if desired. No need to seal the jars.
2. If you have an electric pressure cooker with a yogurt setting, this step is simple. Set the yogurt setting for 8 to 10 hours and add the jar(s). Lock on the lid, close the vent, and do not check until the time is up. (I love to do this at night)
3. If you don’t have a pressure cooker with a yogurt setting, do not despair. Find a put that is between 100° and 110°F, but no hotter. This can be your oven with the light on, the pilot light on, or set at 100°F if your oven goes that low, or use a dehydrator. You can set a rack on top of 4 closed jars of boiling water in a Styrofoam or other kind of cooler, and put the jar(s) on the rack, then cover the cooler. Or even set it outdoors (on a porch, perhaps), if the temperature isclose to 100°F. You can also use a yogurt maker.
4. It takes 8 to 12 hours for your soy milk to become cultured and turn into yogurt. Sometimes it will separate into curds and whey. You can pour off and drink the whey and keep the curds.

Note: You can freeze the yogurt in 1 to 2 tablespoon amounts and use that to begin future batches.
My 2 favorite starters are Cultures for Health vegan yogurt starter or Belle and Bella

©2020 Jill Nussinow, MS, RDN, Vegan Under Pressure, Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt
Batch Cooking – It’s all About the Timing

Here are some of the combos that work well:

Dried beans such as black, pinto, kidney, white on the bottom with liquid (standard ratio of 1 cup beans, 2 cups liquid), put in the rack, a heatproof container with brown rice and liquid. If there is still room you can put in big sweet potatoes or potatoes. Cook it all for 22 to 25 minutes with natural release.

Black or red rice on the bottom, rack and bowl with soaked beans: cook 15 minutes with natural release. Millet on the bottom with 1 ¾ cups liquid, rack, bowl of lentils with liquid: 10 minutes with 10 minute natural release. Potatoes or sweet potatoes if they are smaller, or even small winter squash.Lentils on the bottom with liquid, quinoa in a bowl on top: 6 minutes with natural release.

There are many combinations that can work well. What doesn’t work well is something that needs 25 minutes on the bottom and something that needs only 5 minutes on top, unless you love mush.fast cooking vegetables rarely work with this batch cooking unless you cook a big batch separately. I usually cook two types of whole grains in a week and 2 types of legumes. Here is what I love to do with them.

Bowls: grains, legumes, vegetables – cooked and raw and condiments such as salsa or tahini, lemon and garlicSushi, or other wraps, which includes burritos, rice wraps, etc
I often use my rice for this with cooked sweet potato, tofu, avocado, sprouts, sesame seeds, ume vinegar, wasabi Burritos – using whole grain or gluten-free wraps but similar to bowl ingredients

Burgers
This is where leftover ingredients often stop up. This is accurate, I had 1 cup of leftover risotto and here is what I did with it: The 1 cup risotto got combined with 2 cloves of garlic, chopped, and ¼ cup basil, chopped, combined with 1 cup of cooked beluga black lentils and 2 chopped sun dried tomatoes in my mini-processor. I added pepper and a bit of salt (which is optional). I formed the not-so-appealing looking mixture into 3 excellent sized burgers and one little patty.