Pear and Date Spiced Oatmeal (Instant Pot/Vegan)

Recipe from Rainbow Plant Life

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes

I’m totally new to Instant Pot cooking.  After experimenting with dried beans, I decided to graduate to steel cut oats.  Steel cut oats are an excellent choice for breakfast, but they are often overlooked because they take much longer to cook than regular old fashioned oats or quick cooking oats with much babysitting the pot.  But not any longer!  This took about 30 minutes from start to finish and most of that time was totally hands off.  To save time, I measured the dry ingredients and pitted dates into an airtight container before going to bed.  Then when I awoke, all I had to do was spray the inner pot with cooking oil, measure out the milk/water and cut up the pears.  While the oats cooked, I washed my face, got dressed and made the coffee.  These oats tasted spectacular and kept me full all morning.

Coconut oil OR cooking spray

1½ cups steel cut oats

4 cups oat milk OR other nondairy milk (I used 3 cups almond milk plus 1 cup water.)

6 Medjool dates, pitted

2 large pears, peeled and diced

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Pinch of sea salt

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground allspice OR nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

Lightly coat the inner pot of the Instant Pot (I have a Duo Nova Plus 6-Quart Instant Pot) with coconut oil or cooking spray to avoid sticking and getting a BURN message.

Add all of the ingredients to the inner pot of the Instant Pot.

Secure the lid and set the valve to Sealing (not Venting).

Select the Pressure Cook setting (or Manual setting on older models) at High Pressure and set the cook time to 12 minutes.

Once the 12-minute timer has completed and beeps, allow Natural Pressure Release for 20 minutes; then switch the Pressure Release Knob from Sealing to Venting to release any remaining steam.

Open the pot and stir the oatmeal thoroughly. There may be some liquid and foam on top, but once you stir it, the liquid will incorporate into the oatmeal and thicken up.

Serve plain or with your favorite toppings.  (I added some pecans, a drizzle of maple syrup and some almond milk.) Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.