We are coming in on the home stretch.  I am painting for the foreseeable future and Tony is getting the shelving and final drywall hung.  I’m working everyday.  It’s hard, but the finish line is in sight.

This week’s recipe is one that uses up some leftover steel cut oats I have laying around.  I like them a lot, but they take too long to cook and are too many calories to eat as a snack.  1/4 cup of steel cut oats is 150 calories where rolled oats are 75.  I’ll take the bigger portion for less calories.  I found a way to use them in a recipe for Oats and Vegetable Upma from Cookilicious.  This is considered a breakfast side, but with some added protein, I think this would work as a dinner main.  There are some items that you would have to get at an Indian grocery store, but for a different take on traditional oatmeal, it’s worth it.  It also uses an Instant Pot, which makes the whole process much faster than on the stovetop.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I added tofu to increase the protein.
• I removed the frozen veggie mix and replaced with red bell pepper to increase the vitamins A and C.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Tofu, Oats & Vegetable Upma

Serves 8

• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 14 ounce blocks extra firm tofu, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3 red bell peppers finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon white urad dal
• 1 tablespoon chana dal
• 1 tablespoon pistachios (whole or coarsely chopped)
• 1 tablespoon cashews (whole or coarsely chopped)
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 2-3 green chilies (finely chopped)
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 3 cups water
• cilantro for garnish

1. Turn on the Instant Pot in saute mode. Add ghee to the Instant pot.  
2. Add the tofu and brown on all sides
3. Add mustard seeds to the pot. Once the mustard seeds begin to pop, add curry leaves, Urad Dal, Chana Dal, pistachios, cashews and Cumin seeds to the mix.  Fry for 15-20 seconds.
4. Next add ginger paste, minced green chilies, red bell pepper and chopped onions. Saute till the onions turn translucent.
5. Then add the turmeric powder and paprika. 
6. Mix well and add steel cut oats and water. Turn off the saute mode and close the lid. 
7. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Release the pressure naturally and then open the Instant Pot. (Please refer to your Instant Pot manual on how to do this)
8. Garnish with chopped cilantro, mix and serve hot.