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Follow this formula to make velvety soup in your Instant Pot

using any vegetables you have on hand

One of the big misconceptions of our year of pandemic cooking has been the idea that those of us working from home would have more time and flexibility to babysit our sourdough, our braises, our soups and stews. On the weekends, maybe – but only for those of us without young children underfoot. During the

Joe Yonan week, in between Zoom

Weeknight vege- meetings? tarian Sure, I can preheat my oven or put a pot on to simmer, but that’s about the extent of any advantage.

Perhaps the biggest change has been at lunchtime. I rarely, if ever, cooked for desk lunches. When I was on top of my meal planning, I might earmark leftovers to take to work, but more often than not, the question I asked by about noon every weekday was: Where am I getting takeout?

I wasn’t alone: More people purchased lunch out of the house than any other meal in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We won’t know how 2020 fared in this survey for another couple of years, but it seems obvious that one of the biggest changes in home cooking has revolved around lunch.

Now that I’m cooking lunch or eating leftovers almost seven days a week, I’ve been looking for strategies to help me pull something together for my husband and me that’s quick, satisfying, plus relatively light and healthy. In the summer and much of the fall, it was big salads from our backyard garden. Then as the greens started to fade, I looked to my Instant Pot and started making soups at least a couple times a week.

In my lunch rush, I’ve rarely made time for an actual recipe. Instead, I turn to whatever raw vegetable I have around, which this time of year includes cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, beets, winter squash and potatoes (white and sweet).

My add-ins varied at first, but I soon settled on a formula, using coconut milk and water, plus a little lime juice, garlic, onion and ginger. About 20 minutes later (10 minutes for the pot to come to pressure and another 10 to cook), I blend Any Vegetable Instant Pot Soup is ready in about 20 minutes.

the contents into a rich, aromatic puree and start scouring for garnishes.

As I’ve written before, even when pureed soups are as full of flavor as these, they need generous garnishes or they get tiresome to eat. So I chop up leftover roasted vegetables (or meat for my husband) and pile on herbs, nuts, maybe some canned or precooked beans, a drizzle of more coconut milk or yogurt. If I have a baguette getting stale, I saw off chunks into irregular croutons. Or if I’m thinking ahead, I use some of the base vegetable – grating some raw carrot or beet before putting the rest in the pot for the soup, for instance, or thinly slicing carrot tops or beet greens. I roast the seeds I pull out of a butternut or acorn squash, turning them crispy and browned in about the time it takes the soup to cook.

My Instant Pot soup strategy – which I hope might become yours, too – lets me cook fairly mindlessly, as the formula is so easy to remember, while the varying vegetables and garnishes keep the soups interesting. Plus, I make enough to bank one or two meals for the fridge or freezer.

At lunch, with the clock counting down and work tasks mounting during my break, a quick path to a hot bowl of soup, whether it’s left over or not, is a blessing.

any Vegetable instant pot soup Active time: 10 minutes | Total time: 30 minutes 4-6 servings; makes 7 to 8 cups Think of this as your flexible soup-season template: In about a half-hour of mostly hands-off time, you have a bright, velvety pureed soup using most any firm vegetable (or combination) you can think of, along with coconut milk for a touch of richness. While the Instant Pot is doing its thing, you can put together a quick garnish. This recipe was tested using a 6-quart Instant Pot; the volume and amount of liquid are enough for it to work in an 8-quart model, but you’ll want to halve it for a 3-quart model.

Storage Notes: The soup can be refrigerated for up to 1 week and frozen for up to 6 months. Thaw and reheat gently on the stove top. 2 pounds vegetable or combination of vegetables of your choice (see NOTE) 1 (13-ounce) can coconut milk 1 1⁄2 cups water 1⁄2 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 5 ounces; 1 cup) 4 garlic cloves, smashed 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus more to taste 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped

Tom McCorkle/The Washington Post

1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

Freshly ground black pepper (for serving)

About 1 1⁄2 to 2 cups assorted garnishes of your choice (see NOTE)

In an Instant Pot combine the vegetables, coconut milk, water, onion, garlic, lime juice, ginger and salt. Close the lid. Make sure the steam valve is sealed. Select PRESSURE (HIGH) and set to 10 minutes. (It takes about 10 minutes for the appliance to come to pressure before cooking begins.)

Release the pressure manually by moving the pressure-release handle to “Venting,” covering your hand with a towel or hot pad. Never put your hands or face near the vent when it’s releasing steam.

Use an immersion (stick) blender to puree the soup until smooth. (Alternately, you can puree the soup in batches in a blender: To prevent splatters, be careful to not fill it more than halfway, remove the center ring from the lid, and hold a kitchen towel over the lid as you blend.) Reheat if needed by returning the soup to the Instant Pot and heating on SAUTE. Taste, and add more salt and/or lime juice if needed.

Divide the soup among serving bowls, add about 1⁄3 cup garnishes of your choice to each bowl, grind black pepper on top and serve hot.

NOTE: Here are some possibilities for vegetables and garnishes that work well with them:

double CeleRy

11⁄2 pounds celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks 8 ounces (5 to 6 ribs) celery, cut into 1-inch chunks

Garnish: Chopped celery and leaves, toasted baguette croutons

bRoCColi and bRussels spRouts

11⁄4 pound head broccoli, trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks (stem cut into 1⁄4-inch slices) 12 ounces Brussels sprouts

Garnish: Shredded Brussels sprouts and whole leaves; roasted chickpeas

beet and CaRRot

11⁄4 pounds beets, scrubbed but not peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks 12 ounces carrots, scrubbed but not peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

Garnish: Thinly sliced beet greens plus any whole small leaves; finely chopped carrots; drizzle of coconut milk

WinteR squash

2 pounds acorn, butternut or other winter squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks

Garnish: Pumpkin seeds, cilantro or parsley, chopped roasted red pepper

Nutrition: Ingredients are too variable for a meaningful analysis.

Let these chocolate dessert cups be sweet start to new year

Like the start of muffin-sized a new year, silicone baking chocolate cups and a small, dessert cups clean paint brush. waiting to be filled With these tools are brimming at hand, you then with possibilities. melt the chocolate Here, that poten- in a double boiler. tial is realized in a I use a shortcut sumptuous and Ellie Krieger tempering method healthful treat, Nourish where most of the loaded with chocolate is melted cannoli-style ricotta initially, but some is held cream and fresh raspber- back and stirred in to melt ries. Accented with mint once the bowl is off the leaves and showered with heat. This helps bring the confectioners’ sugar, it’s a temperature of the chocdessert that has the olate down gradually and sparkle and elegance to yields a better-quality match a glass of bubbly final product. and set just the right Then, in what feels like mood for watching a relaxed arts-and-crafts the ball drop. project, you fill the sili-

Depending on what cone cups about a third you are up for, pre- of the way with melted paring them can be a chocolate, and use the total breeze. You could paintbrush to spread it purchase premade choc- evenly to the top of the olate cups, or for a cup. Once the cups chill relatively easy project in the refrigerator for a in the kitchen, you could half-hour, you pop them make your own. out of the liners. It’s not

To go the DIY route, hard to do, but a couple you’ll need a set of mini- may crack in the process, so I suggest making a few extra to account for that.

The rest of the recipe is effortless: You make the ricotta cream by beating the cheese until smooth, sweeten it lightly with confectioners’ sugar and brighten it with a touch of lemon zest. Then, dollop the cream into the cups, top with the raspberries, add a mint leaf to each, and shower them all with confectioner’s sugar.

The result is a beautiful dessert, which is just as I hope the year ahead will be - sweet, healthy and filled with good things.

ChoColate Cups With RiCotta CReam and RaspbeRRies

Active time: 1 hour | Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes 8 servings; makes 16 cups Brimming with cannoli-style ricotta cream and fresh raspberries, garnished with mint and showered with confectioner’s sugar, these elegant chocolate cups are a sumptuous and healthful treat. They can be ready effortlessly if you buy chocolate cups, or you can embrace the easy arts-and-crafts-like project of making the cups yourself. To do so, you’ll need a set of mini-muffin-size silicone baking cups and a small, clean paint brush.

Make Ahead: The chocolate cups may be made, then filled with ricotta and topped with raspberries, up to 1 day in advance; store tightly covered in the refrigerator. 6 ounces (170 grams) dark chocolate (60 to 70%), chopped (may substitute sixteen (1⁄2-ounce) chocolate dessert cups, see headnote) 2⁄3 cup (150 grams) whole milk ricotta cheese 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, plus more for garnish 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 6 ounces fresh raspberries 16 small fresh mint leaves

If making the chocolate cups, melt three-quarters of the chocolate (about

Tom McCorkle/The Washington Post Chocolate Cups With Ricotta Cream and Raspberries.

41⁄2 ounces/130 grams) in a bowl set over a pot with about 2 inches of barely simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water). Transfer to a towel-lined counter (this helps the bowl to stay put), add the remaining chocolate, and stir until completely melted.

Fill a silicone baking cup about a third of the way with the chocolate, then, using the paint brush, spread the chocolate to the top of each cup, layering the sides as thickly as possible. Repeat with the remaining chocolate and silicone cups. Place the filled cups onto a large, rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. Carefully pop the chocolate cups out of the liners.

In a small bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the ricotta cheese until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stir in the sugar and the lemon zest.

Using a small spoon, fill each chocolate cup with about 2 teaspoons of the ricotta mixture. (Alternately, you can transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a narrow tip and pipe the mixture into the cups.) Top each cup with 2 to 3 raspberries. Garnish with a mint leaf and sprinkle with additional confectioners’ sugar right before serving.

Nutrition: Calories: 158; Total Fat: 12 g; Saturated Fat: 7 g; Cholesterol: 10 mg; Sodium: 16 mg; Carbohydrates: 15 g; Dietary Fiber: 4 g; Sugar: 9 g; Protein: 5 g.

Recipe from dietitian and food columnist Ellie Krieger.