The New Fast Food; @TheVeggieQueen Pressure Cooks Whole Food Meals in Less than 30 Minutes by Jill Nussinow

What inspired you to write your book?
I have been teaching pressure cooking for more than 15 years. I had been teaching so long that I had a body of recipes that needed to get out into the world.

I also believe that pressure cooking makes eating better tasting, and healthier, food achievable for many people who may not possess the skills to be a good, or even, great cook.

Additionally, cooking with a pressure cooker saves energy and I am concerned about the environment. People don’t have to think much about it but can feel good about doing something positive for themselves and the planet. It’s my way of giving back to Mother Earth.

About your Book:
The New Fast Food contains all the information you need to learn how to successfully pressure cook. It includes cooking charts for beans, grains and vegetables, and 150 easy to cook recipes for dishes from breakfast through dessert. 138 of the recipes are naturally gluten-free.

You’ll find recipes such as Three Minute Steel Cut Oats, Spicty Thai Carrot Soup (3 minutes), White Beans with Greens and Lemon (7 minutes at pressure), No-Stir Seasonal Risotto (5 minutes), Black Sticky Rice Pudding and Summer Fruit Compote.

Jill shares her 15 plus years of pressure cooking teaching with you in this guide that will get you cooking to improve personal and planetary health. You’ll save time, money and energy.

Cuisine Style or Food Genre
Vegetarian/Vegan, Fast and Easy

Sample Recipe or Food Advice
Farro Risotto with Asparagus and Peas
Serves 4
Recently I bought a rather large bag of organic Farro Semiperlato at Costco. Farro is interchangeable
with barley, having a similar chewy texture and likely the same type of soluble fiber. Italians
call this dish Farrotto. It’s easy to make your own broth which is key to great risotto.
7 minutes high pressure; natural pressure release
1 tablespoon oil, if using
2 shallots, peeled and diced to equal
½ cup
1½ cups farro seminperlato
½ cup white wine
2½–3 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon chopped tarragon or
½ teaspoon dried
½ teaspoon salt
½ pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen, thawed peas
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian
parsley
Soy cheese (optional) for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black
pepper to taste
Heat the oil in your pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Sauté the shallots for about 2
minutes. Stir in farro and coat with oil, if using. If not, dry toast the farro, for about 2 minutes. Add
wine and stir until it evaporates, about 30 seconds. Add 2½ cups of the broth and the tarragon,
taking care to scrape up any browned bits sticking to the bottom of the cooker.
Lock pressure cooker lid in place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Reduce heat just
enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the pressure
come down naturally.

Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape. See if the farro is cooked to
your liking. If not, put back on the heat and bring to high pressure for another 2 to 3 minutes. Then
let the pressure release naturally again.

If the grain is cooked how you like, stir in the salt, asparagus and peas. Simmer on the stove top,
adding the remaining broth if necessary, until the farrotto is cooked as desired and the vegetables
are bright green. Add the freshly ground pepper and additional salt, if desired. Add the remaining
broth if the dish needs it. This dish should have the same texture as risotto, which is a bit runny
but not too soupy. It will thicken as it stands. Serve hot, immediately, garnished with parsley, and
soy cheese, if desired.

What formats are your books in
Both eBook and Print

How do you see writing a food/cookbook as different from writing other genres of books?
There is a lot of testing and fact checking that goes into writing a cookbook. You have to provide facts and be specific in writing recipes but you also have to engage the reader.

What advice would you give to someone that is thinking about or currently working on a food book or cookbook
Do your homework to be sure that you have an audience for what you are doing. Make sure that your recipes are tested and taste great.

Figure out how you want your book to look and feel so that you get what you want. Also, be willing to let some of the recipes go if they don’t fit well into the structure of the book.

How did you decide how to publish your book and where is it published through:
I had a publisher which I subsequently fired because their time frame didn’t work with my goals. So, I decided to publish the book myself.

I have my own publishing company and I took over the book project, hiring designers, editors, illustrators, etc.

Do not self-publish your book unless you are willing to persevere. The writing is hard but selling the book is often even more difficult. There are expenses and it’s another business.

Author Bio:
Jill Nussinow is a cookbook author, cooking teacher and Registered Dietitian who has two published cookbooks: The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment and The New Fast Food: The Veggie Queen Pressure Cooks Whole Food Meals in Less than 30 Minutes. She loves teaching people how to cook food that helps provide more energy and makes them feel great.