Garlic Pork Loin (Pressure Cooker)

Updated: 12/28/21

Try this easy Pressure Cooker recipe!  Your taste buds will thank you!  

Garlic Pork Loin (Pressure Cooker)

Servings:
1 Protein
0.5 Vegetable
1 Fruit
1 Starch

Suitable for all Freedom and FastTrack 2 meal plans only

Ingredients:
1 serving Pork Loin, trimmed of fat
¼ medium Onion, sliced
2 Garlic Cloves
½ medium Grapefruit, diced
2 Tbsp juice from a fresh Lime
¼ Tbsp Oregano, fresh
¼ Tbsp Cumin
1 Bay Leaf
¼ cup Cilantro, chopped

Preparation:
In a small blender, combine garlic cloves, oregano, grapefruit, cumin, and lime juice. Blend together until it is a smooth liquid. Trim fat off from your pork loin serving. Place the pork loin in a medium glass dish. Pour the mixture over top of the pork loin and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Once time is up, place the marinated pork loin into the pressure cooker. Next, cover the pressure cooker after you have added the bay leaf.

Cook on high pressure for 30-45 minutes. Remember let the pressure from the cooker release naturally.

Remove the pork loin from the cooker, place on a glass plate and shred it into pieces. Remove all liquid, except about a half cup, from the pressure cooker and set the pork back into the cooker to stay hot.

Serve the shredded pork on a tortilla shell OR over top your serving of cooked wild rice.

How to Cook Sweet Potatoes in a Pressure Cooker and Oven

Updated: 3/21/22

How to Cook Sweet Potatoes in a Pressure Cooker and Oven 🍠👩‍🍳

1. Wash the sweet potatoes well. Poke each with a fork a few times.

2. Put about 1 cup of hot water in your pressure cooker. (This is for a 6-quart Instant Pot; larger cookers may need more. Just make sure water covers the bottom of the pot.)

3. Place a steaming rack or basket in the pot. Make sure the water is beneath the level of the rack. Place the potatoes on the rack, out of the water.

4. How much time you pressure cook them will depend on the size of the sweet potatoes. For small potatoes, start with 14 minutes, medium 16 minutes, large 18 minutes. Lock your lid in place and bring to high pressure. (Instant Pot users, use the Manual setting and set the appropriate time.) It doesn’t matter how many potatoes you are cooking; set the timer according to the size of the largest potato.

5. Cook at high pressure for the time listed for your size of sweet potatoes. Then remove from heat or turn your electric PC off. Allow the pressure to come down naturally for 10 minutes. Quick release the pressure if necessary after 10 minutes. Check the potatoes by poking down to the center with a fork. They should be relatively soft all the way through. If they seem hard in the middle, return them to the cooker, and pressure cook them for another minute or two. Quick release the pressure and check again. They should be done, but repeat if necessary.

6. While the pressure is coming down, preheat your oven to 400F. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Though this method takes a bit longer than using a microwave, the result will yield not only a nice roasted flavor, but more moist and creamy sweet potato. Serve warm.

What Is a Pressure Cooker?

Updated: 3/17/22

So you found a great deal on a pressure cooker that your friends have been raving about.  Now what?

What is a pressure cooker? How does a pressure cooker work?  Hungry for a home-cooked meal but lacking in the time?  An electric multicooker, which can act as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker and steamer can help.  Although the Instant Pot is one of the most popular multicookers on the market, there are other good brands out there as well.  How do you get the most out of your pressure cooker?  Keep reading!

What is this multicooker that you speak of?  It’s a pressure cooker, utilizing pressure and heat to prepare food evenly and quickly, usually in a fraction of the time of traditional methods.  It can also function as a slow cooker, allowing you to take your time if you aren’t in such a rush.  It can sauté and steam with a built-in heat source at the bottom of the machine.  This means you can use the pot to sear meats, sauté vegetables, steam rice or even simmer liquids for steaming without using a stove top.

Old style stovetop pressure cookers have a gauge on the lid that pops up as the pressure increases, meaning that the inside of the pot has reached optimal pressure. The heat needs to be adjusted to keep the pot’s temperature and pressure constant to avoid over-pressurizing which can burn the food inside, or in extreme cases, explode.

An electric pressure cooker traps steam rising from the boiling liquid within the pot, which raises the temperature at which that boils.  It can work at different pressure levels with a steam valve that allows excess steam to escape, keeping the pressure cooker from exploding.  It will also turn itself off if the pressure or temperature ever rises too high so it’s another wonderful tool to have in your kitchen that you can set and walk away with little worry.

To use your electric pressure cooker, review your recipe to determine the pressure level – high pressure is used for many recipes, but low pressure is used for more delicate items like seafood, rice or eggs.  Some pressure cookers even have a setting for different proteins.  Set your steam valve and once you set your device, it will begin building pressure (pressure cannot build if the device is venting).  Pressure build up can take up to 20 minutes.

Once the cooking time is up, the multicooker will automatically change to “keep warm” function and begin slowly losing pressure.  It can take up to 30 minutes to release naturally.  The longer the pressure cooker has been on and the more food it has in it, the longer the natural release will take.  If the recipe calls for an immediate manual release, carefully move the steam valve to the venting position and the pressure will release in a minute or so, with a burst of steam.  Keep your hand away from the top of the valve – you may consider using tongs or a wooden spoon to move the valve or covering the valve with a dish towel to keep the steam from spraying all over your kitchen.

If you are tight on space, you can replace your slow cooker and rice cooker with a multicooker since it can handle slow cooking, pressure cooking or steaming methods at the touch of a button.

Need a recipe? Visit our recipes page and type in “pressure cooker”