The Nourishing Gourmet

Nourishing. Satisfying. Gourmet.

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Perfect Instant Pot Black and Brown Rice

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A bowl full of black and brown rice.

Rich in antioxidants, black rice (also known as purple or forbidden rice) adds a light nutty flavor and a wealth of nutrients to this simple dish. It is a striking side dish with subtle flavor, a not-so-subtle color, and many nutrients. 

Black rice is thought to have been reserved for royalty in ancient China, and was also called longevity rice because of its health-promoting properties. It is believed to have been cultivated for thousands of years, making it a traditional food. 

While you can easily cook black rice alone, my family found it more appetizing when mixed and then cooked with brown rice. Because black rice can be expensive, this helps stretch it out. Black rice contains the antioxidant anthocyanin, which gives this dish not only its beautiful color, but is also responsible for potential health benefits such as reducing inflammation, and helping protect against various diseases. It also contains high amounts of lutein and zeaxanthin, which support eye health. In one controlled study for weight loss, they found that women who frequently ate a brown and black rice diet, instead of white rice, lost more weight, although they ate the same amount of calories. 1, 2, 3.

There are various kinds of black rice, some of which I am eager to try, but haven’t been able to find locally or online. Two accessible brands are Lotus Forbidden Black Rice and Lundberg Black Pearl Rice. I’ve had success using both short and long-grain brown rice in this recipe. 

Many of my readers enjoy “soaking” their grains to reduce anti-nutrients, such as phytic acid in grains. Pressure cooking is an excellent form of cooking to reduce anti-nutrients without soaking. It’s our current preferred way to make rice! Feel free to add a soaking period to this recipe, if desired, however. Rice is traditionally rinsed or washed before cooking, and we now know that it also washes away arsenic in rice, so it is recommended for both culinary and health reasons. 

You can use whatever ratio of brown to black rice that you like, including using this recipe to make all black rice, if desired. 

I am feeding a family, so I use the 6-quart Instant Pot.

Serve with:

Perfect Instant Pot Black and Brown Rice

Printable PDF, Serves 4-6 people 

You can make a smaller portion of this dish by keeping the ratios the same in smaller amounts. (For example: ¼ cup black rice, ¾ cup brown rice, 1 cup water or broth, ¼ teaspoon salt.)

  • 1 cup of black rice 
  • 3 cups of brown rice 
  • 4 cups of water or broth 
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

  1. Rinse rice by placing rice in a fine sieve and rinsing under the faucet until the water runs clear. Or wash the rice by placing rice a large bowl, covering with cold water, and then gently swirling. Pour out the water, and then repeat until the water runs clear and is no longer cloudy. Add drained rice to the instant pot. 
  2. Add water or broth and salt. Secure the lid and then ensure that the steam release valve is in the sealing position. 
  3. Select manual at high pressure and set to 25 minutes. *
  4. Once the cooking time is done, let it naturally release for 10 minutes (natural-release simply means leaving it alone) and then release any remaining pressure by moving the steam release valve to venting position. 

*Many find that 20 minutes is adequate for cooking brown and black rice, but I find that I need the 25 minutes.

Mocha Dark Chocolate Bombs (low sugar)

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hot chocolate bomb in cupcake liner on a snowy background

These low-sugar, dark hot chocolate mocha bombs create a luxurious and thick hot chocolate mocha drinking experience. You can make this low-sugar or sugar-free using the options below. It’s perfect for gift giving! 

What are hot cocoa or hot chocolate bombs? These sphere-shaped chocolate treats are full of hot cocoa mix and whatever else you want to add (in this case, sugar-free marshmallows and coffee) that “explode” when hot milk is poured over it. Most of the versions out there are double or even triple the amount of sugar content of a regular cup of hot cocoa, which is not kind to some of us who are sensitive to that amount of sugar. This version remains quite sweet, without tons of added sugar. 

A quick note on alternative sweeteners: I personally don’t use many of the alternative sweeteners. One of my favorites is allulose, which is a “rare” natural sugar. THM Gentle Sweet is another favorite. Xylitol and erythritol are also good options. WARNING: xylitol is very dangerous to dogs. So please use utmost caution if you have pets (Max Mallows are also sweetened with xylitol).

No Alternative Sweetener Version: While traditionally hot chocolate/hot cocoa bombs are stuffed full, your bomb will be super delicious with only the chocolate shell and the instant coffee powder inside. Why? The chocolate in the shell is more than adequate to flavor and sweeten your cup. To make this a low sugar version, just use the darkest chocolate you can find. 

Why Dutch Process Cocoa? This recipe uses dutch process cocoa, which is important because this version of cocoa will stir in easily. 

Sugar Free Chocolate Chips:

Low Sugar NO Alternative Sweetener Options:

Other ingredients: 

Kitchen Tools Needed:

hot cocoa bomb on a snowy background

Low Sugar Dark Chocolate Mocha Bombs

Printable PDF, Makes 3, double to make 6

  • 1 cup chocolate chips (6 ounces)
  • 4 ½ teaspoons instant coffee (I used organic decaf) 
  • 1 tablespoon sweetener of choice (I used THM Gentle Sweet, but you can also use allulose, or xylitol or erythritol) 
  • 1 ½ tablespoons dutch process cocoa powder 
  • 6 Max Mallow Marshmallows 
  • ¼ cup (2 ounces) white chocolate (Lily’s for a sugar-free and delicious version), optional for decoration

Melt Chocolate: Microwave version: In a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, melt chocolate chips, stirring after every 20-30 seconds until just melted. Double Boiler: Set up a double boiler, being careful to never allow moisture into the chocolate as it melts. Melt over medium heat, stirring until just melted. 

Brush melted chocolate into the 6 cavities of your mold, making sure that it’s even and goes all the way up the sides. Put in freezer for five minutes, remove, and then add a second coat. Two weak areas are the bottom and the very top. Ensure those all have plenty of chocolate. You should have very little chocolate left at this point. Put back in the freezer to set for at least five minutes.  

Meanwhile, combine the dutch process cocoa and the sugar of choice for your hot cocoa mix. 

Once chocolate is hardened, remove from freezer. Check for any holes, and patch up if needed with more chocolate (and then refreeze). Gently remove from mold, but then place back in the mold for the next step. On one side, spoon the DIY hot cocoa mix evenly into 3 of the half spheres. Add 1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee to each sphere. Add 1 or 2 max mallows on top. Now, heat a small pan over medium heat until warm. Remove from heat. Take the other (empty) half of the spheres, and place rim down on the pan to JUST begin melting the rim. Now that you have some melted chocolate, gently press down on the filled sphere half. It should adhere. Repeat process with other two spheres. Put back in freezer to harden for five minutes. Remove when hardened. 

Problem Solving: Sometimes there were gaps in the sides when I joined the two sides. To fix these, use a little melted chocolate and brush on. You can also brush a little chocolate around the rims of the two halves if they didn’t probably stick together.  I found it helpful to re-freeze first before doing this step. Keep your kitchen cold, and wear plastic food prep gloves if your hands are very warm. 

Melt ¼ cup white chocolate in a small cup in microwave until just melted, and using a fork, drizzle over the top of the chocolate bombs. Let set. Package by placing in a cupcake liner, and then into a small candy bag. 

To Serve: Place hot chocolate bomb in a large mug, and pour over approximately 1 cup of milk of choice. The bomb should melt and the marshmallows should come to the top. Let sit for 30-60 seconds, and then stir well to finish melting the chocolate.

Gingerbread Caramel Corn

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Pan of gingerbread caramel corn

The spices of a traditional gingerbread, including cloves, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, along with a touch of molasses, elevates caramel corn into something truly special. This version doesn’t use any corn syrup, but instead is solely sweetened with honey, coconut sugar, and molasses. Our neighborhood kids have been helping sample this alongside my kids as I perfected the recipe. It’s been a favorite! 

Gingerbread Caramel Corn makes the lovely movie night treat, or a lovely food gift.

A Few Notes:

  • This recipe uses a quick timed caramel process on the stovetop. I love that it’s so easy to make!  Please beware that sugar burns can be serious, so whenever making caramel, I personally wear shoes, am extra careful, and keep kids and pets out of the kitchen. 
  • I recipe tested this with both brown sugar and coconut sugar, and they both worked amazingly!
  • The oven process helps to solidify the caramel, and as you stir it every 15 minutes, it will help even out the caramel coating on the popcorn. We also found that it helps bring the spice flavor out. Note that you can taste the spices most when fully cooled.
  • We LOVE our stovetop popcorn popper. But an air popper works just as well! Do not use microwave popcorn bags for this recipe.
  • We personally use organic corn products whenever possible. Besides potential health benefits, we’ve found that the texture and taste is usually better.


Gingerbread Caramel Corn


Printable PDF, Makes around 8 cups

  • ½ cup popcorn kernels, popped to make around 8 cups (for a lighter caramel coating, you can up this to ¾ cup of popcorn kernels) 
  • ½ cup butter (coconut oil would work for a dairy-free version) 
  • 1 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar, lightly packed) 
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons molasses 
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger 
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon 
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon cloves 
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda 
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 200F. Spread popped popcorn on the sheet, remove any unpopped kernels. 

In a heavy small or medium-sized pot, add the butter or coconut oil, coconut sugar, honey, molasses, and salt. Over medium heat, bring to a low simmer while stirring. 

Once it reaches a simmer, stop stirring, and allow to gently simmer for five minutes. Then, remove from heat. Add baking soda, spices, and vanilla. The baking soda will change the texture of the caramel. Stir carefully to combine well. 

Carefully pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn, and then gently stir to spread the caramel as best you can. 

Place in the middle of the oven. Stir every 15 minutes, for a total of 60 minutes in the oven. Remove from heat. Cool. Break up the caramel corn, and enjoy!

Thyme and Garlic Potato Stacks

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Garlic and thyme potato stacks in muffin tins

Imagine this: Melt-in-your-mouth tender potatoes that are bursting with garlic and fresh thyme. This elegant potato dish is a beautiful side for holiday meals (or really, just anytime!). The concept is simple—use a mandoline to thinly and evenly slice potatoes, toss with melted butter, fresh garlic, and thyme, stack in muffin tins, and then roast in the oven until the tops are browned, and the potatoes are tender in the middle. 

We tried this a few times, and we found that olive oil also works for a dairy-free version. Sweet potatoes are also quite good.

Some Notes on Tools:

Note on Ingredients:

  • Yes, this is a large amount of butter or oil, but you need the potatoes to be well-coated with fat to cook properly and not dry out. 
  • Make sure the potatoes you use are small enough in diameter that they can stack, sliced, in your muffin tins. We tried out a variety of potatoes and they all worked! My favorite may have been Yukon golds. 
  • Feel free to cut the recipe in half. 
picture of potato stacks in muffin tins

Thyme and Garlic Potato Stacks

PDF Printable, Serves 8-12

Ingredients:

  • 3 lbs potatoes (see note above), scrubbed and rinsed. 
  • 1 cup butter or olive oil (if using olive oil, start with ¾ cup, and use the extra ¼ if needed) 
  • 1 ½ teaspoons of salt 
  • 2-4 tablespoons of fresh thyme (rinse, and then slide your fingers up the stem of thyme sprig to remove the herb leaves for this recipe) 
  • 6-8 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced

Directions:

1: Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease muffin tins (2 dozen). 

    2. Using the thinnest setting (1/16 inch), thinly slice the potatoes using a mandoline.  

    3. Melt butter in a small pot until just melted. Take off heat and cool slightly. Add salt, thyme and garlic to the butter, and then pour over potatoes and gently toss until each slice is coated. (If using olive oil, start with ¾ a cup, and add an extra ¼ cup, if needed to lightly coat potatoes). 

    4. Stack potato slices in muffin tins. They will shrink while cooking, so stack higher than the top of the muffin tin. 

    5. Put into the middle of the oven, and cook until the potatoes are soft in the middle (I check with a toothpick), and the edges and tops are starting to brown. This should take around 45 minutes, but start checking at 35-40 minutes. 

    6. Carefully remove potato stacks from muffin tins (I find a thin heat-safe spatula or butter knife helpful here), and serve right away. 

    7. For Thanksgiving, I put them in a casserole dish and covered with foil to keep warm until serving.