Jill Nussinow's New Book Is Here!Vegan Under Pressure - Vegan Tapioca

Vegan tapioca is delicious and easy to make!

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Can't Live without my Instant Pot
I honestly can say that the Instant Pot pressure cooker has changed the way my husband and I cook. We use it in the morning to make oatmeal. We use it to cook at least one dish at every meal. And now, we use it to make tapioca. But before I go into that, let me talk about Jill Nussinow (the Veggie Queen).

I met Jill about 5 years ago at a vegan potluck at the Sonoma Humane Society. She was giving a demonstration on how to use an electric pressure cooker. I had an old stovetop pressure cooker that had been gathering dust in the back of my closet for at least 10 years, so I wasn't convinced I'd ever use another one. It actually took me a few more years before I broke down and bought an Instant Pot but now I can hardly imagine my life without one.

Jill Nussinow, The Veggie Queen

The biggest challenge in using a pressure cooker, is to know how long to cook things. Without a good cookbook in hand you may be undercooking beans and turning your vegetables to mush. I was spared most of these horrible experiences because of Jill's other book, "The New Fast Food."

I've enjoyed that book so much that I couldn't wait for Jill's new one to come out. And now her book, Vegan Under Pressure, is available on The Veggie Queen Website  and on Amazon.

Besides the wonderful recipes (such as coconut pineapple rice and red lentil, sweet potato and hemp burgers, to name a few) the book has helpful tables that tell you how long to cook grains, every kind of rice, beans, and vegetables. You will literally wear out these pages, they are that useful! 

Jill was so kind as to let me share her Vegan Tapioca Berry Parfait recipe with you today. Tapioca is one of my absolute favorite desserts and being able to make it without dairy and in an Instant Pot makes it even more exciting. I've already made this recipe at least 8 times - I can't get enough of it. I've tried it with soy milk, oat milk, and almond milk and my girlfriend made it with regular dairy milk. I made it with myer lemon zest and orange zest which adds a lovely flavor to the tapioca. I've smothered it with different berries and with diced pears.  When in season, this recipe would be great with fresh manilla mangos or peaches too! I've also made it sugar free and used stevia to sweeten it. As you can see, it's a versatile recipe! 

Tapioca is not a starch and is made from the cassava root so it's naturally gluten free.

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Tapioca Berry Parfait
Recipe by Jill Nussinow from her book, Vegan Under Pressure

Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free
[makes 4 servings]

Ingredients
1/2 cup small pearl (not instant) tapioca
2 cups almond or any nondairy milk
Pinch of salt, optional
1/4 cup organic sugar or blonde coconut palm sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
2 cups fresh berries
Fresh mint, for garnish (optional)

Directions
Place the tapioca pearls in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under running water for 30 seconds. (Don't skip this step or it will be too starchy).

Add the milk to the pressure cooker. Add the tapioca and salt, if using, and stir. Lock on the lid. Bring to high pressure and cook for 4 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally. Quick release any remaining pressure after 20 minutes. Open the lid carefully, tilting it away from you.

Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest. 

Spoon 2 tablespoons of berries into the bottom of 4 pretty bowls or parfait glasses. Add about 1/4 cup tapioca, then 3 tablespoons of berries. Add another 1/4 cup tapioca and top with berries. Garnish with mint.

Some additional comments and observations:
For me and my Instant Pot, the recipe comes out even better when I make a bigger batch - like using 3 cups of milk and 3/4 cups of tapioca, for example. I also find that cooking it for 3 minutes and releasing the pressure after 15 minutes is enough.

Nutritional Information
Per serving using unsweetened almond milk and sugar, this recipe has only 165 calories, 1 gram total fat and zero cholesterol and saturated fat. By substituting stevia for sugar, the number of calories is reduced to 120!  

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