GeekMoms Karen Walsh and Nivi Engineer are launching a new series. In response to Nivi’s recent Dear Instant Pot post, Karen and Nivi have decided to use their powers of geekiness to help overcome cooking challenges. For Nivi, it’s her shaky relationship with her Instant Pot. For Karen, it’s baking. So in this new series of posts, Karen and Nivi will start with recipes and try to improve them, add variations to jazz up what’s out there, try to come up with dishes that their families will actually eat without complaining, and, on occasion, put together Geek-themed recipes. For the most part, we’re aiming for simplicity and taste.

So to kick things off, we’re summoning the powers of the Force and hereby offer up a Star Wars recipe list.

Whether you’re sneaking past Storm Troopers or destroying the Death Star, a humanoid’s gotta eat. Here are some Instant Pot recipes to help celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars IV: A New Hope or to add the power of the Force to any day.

We like to keep things simple, especially when trying to make a whole lot of dishes. So, along with starting ahead (some of these foods can be made early and saved for the big day), we want each of the Star Wars recipes to be easy enough that it’s not overwhelming. And as Nivi is working on developing a good relationship with her Instant Pot, these recipes are mostly (though not all) to be made in an Instant Pot.

Star Wars Recipe List for Revenge of the 25th

Droid Salad

– recipe by GeekMom Karen
1 bag salad greens (spinach works well)
1 pint blueberries (R2-D2)
2 cups mini orange slices (BB-8)
1 cup shredded carrots (C-3PO)
A sprinkling of parmesan cheese/feta cheese/goat cheese (whichever you like best!)
Favorite balsamic vinaigrette (GeekMom Karen’s is this one)

As with all salads, just dump everything in a big bowl, pour dressing on and mix it up!

Leia Braid Bread

– recipe by GeekMom Nivi
I started with Hip Pressure Cooker Cooking’s simple bread recipe, and altered it to work for my purposes.
Namely, since I decided to roll the dough into a coil to turn it into a Star Wars recipe, I needed it not to stick completely to my hands and the counter. So I added half a cup of flour. Also, I used nonfat yogurt (since that’s what I had on hand) and it worked fine. I happened to have a cookie tin that fits nicely inside my Instant Pot, so I used that. I really wanted to use something that was wider rather than taller, so that I could achieve the desired aesthetic. But other than that, I followed the recipe in the link above. Nonetheless, I’m including it here for easy reference:

Instant Pot Leia Braid Bread

(adapted from Hip Pressure Cooking’s recipe)

2 1/2 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 cups all-purpose, 1 cup whole wheat) (plus extra for counter)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup yogurt
oil or cooking spray

1. Spray or oil the can/baking pan you’ll be using.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients, then add yogurt and knead until all incorporated. If too sticky, sprinkle in a little more flour.
3. Roll out the dough into a long cylinder of even thickness.
4. Coil it up and put into the prepared pan, then cover with foil and tie with string. Evidently one does not want a completely sealed container for risk of turning Instant Pot into a weapon of mass destruction. As I need said Instant Pot for other recipes, I decided to heed this warning. And so far, the Instant Pot has not gone the way of the Death Star, so I’m sticking with it.
5. Place the pan/can on the steamer tray (with handles up and off to the sides) and set both inside the Instant Pot insert. If you don’t have one of these, others have advised a long section of foil that reaches up on both sides that you can use to remove the pan/can from the Instant Pot when you’re done cooking. I haven’t tried it, but I’m assuming it works just as well.
6. Fill the Instant Pot insert with enough water to reach halfway up the side of your pan/can.
7. Run the Instant Pot on high pressure mode for 25 minutes, then wait for it to release steam naturally. Yes, that takes another 20-25 minutes, and the world won’t end if you don’t wait all of it, but do it. Occupy yourself by prepping the next dish if you’re that antsy. (So that once your bread is done, you can get started on the jelly. Good planning, right?) Or build some Star Wars LEGO kit, watch some of the movie, play with your action figures, or read a Star Wars book. There is really no reason you can’t just let the Instant Pot do its job.
8. Take out the pan/can, remove string and foil, take bread out of pan/can, slice and enjoy!

Jabba Jelly

A.K.A. Jawa Jelly, Kashyykiwi Jelly, Mon Calamarmalade, Mon Mothma Marmalade. (Choose whichever name pleases you. And if you’re particular about the fact that marmalade needs to have citrus peel in it, go ahead and grate some zest and add it in.)

First, a confession. I wanted to make a neon green Jedi Jelly. And, well, this didn’t turn out green, so I decided to rename it instead. My boys like Jabba Jelly, so that’s what I’m going with for this Star Wars recipe.

The starting point for this Star Wars recipe was the Give Me Some Spice blog which I turned to for proportions. I’ve made jam before (and whoa is that a production!) so to simplify it, well, I didn’t start by going strawberry picking and getting a ridiculous amount of fruit that needs to be hulled, washed, chopped, etc. etc. No, I wanted to make a small batch that didn’t take a ton of time for this Star Wars recipe. Maybe so I would feel up to making jelly more than once every few years.

Jabba Jelly
(Adapted from Give Me Some Spice)
3 1/4 green apples, cored and chopped (I kept the peels, hoping to preserve the green color; it didn’t work, but I’d leave them in anyhow, just to make life easier)
6 kiwi, peeled, cored and chopped (fruit adds up to 800 grams)
2 3/4 cup sugar (about 500 grams)
8 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (which equals 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp, in case you’re wondering)
1 package pectin

1. Mix together pectin and sugar. Drop all ingredients into Instant Pot and stir. Sauté until sugar-pectin is dissolved. (I actually didn’t end up needing to sauté at all, but if your sugar doesn’t all melt, go for it. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.)
2. Put lid on, then cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.
3. Let it release its steam naturally (takes about 10 minutes).
4. Use a masher to break up the pieces of fruit as much as possible. Since you include the apple peels and inevitably some kiwi seeds, it won’t end up super smooth. That’s okay. Call it a disturbance in the Force, if you like. Or strain it out, but that sounds like a whole lot more work than is necessary.
5. Here’s when you sauté and work on thickening your concoction. The trouble is, you can only tell if it’s thick enough by cooling it, so keep a spoon handy. Dip it in, set it aside until cool, then check if it’s still slipping off the spoon or if it has congealed. (You can speed this testing up by using the refrigerator or freezer, or just be patient). Once it reaches the desired consistency, transfer it into a clean jar. Or just grab a bunch of spoons and have at it. I won’t judge.

Boba Fettuccine and Ham Solo Carbonara

– by GeekMom Karen Walsh

No meal is complete without, well, an actual meal. And for that, we turn to GeekMom Karen to come up with a suitable Star Wars recipe. This is adapted from the Instant Pot Chicken Crack recipes you can find easily online. GeekMom Nivi tested this Star Wars recipe on her kids and one of their friends, and they love it. Her 10 year old packed it in his lunch the next day, and one of his classmates kept wanting to trade him Cheez-its for bites. So apparently the original name has some merit to it.

Trying to have every Star Wars recipe made entirely in the Instant Pot, GeekMom Nivi tested boiling the noodles in the Instant Pot after removing the chicken to cool and shred. However (and this may be her own personal deficiency as opposed to any problem with the Star Wars recipe), she ended up with several chunks of uncooked pasta where several noodles stuck together and thus couldn’t cook through. Since she was cooking in the Instant Pot (high pressure, eight minutes), she couldn’t exactly stir intermittently to avoid sticking. So GeekMom Karen advises boiling the noodles in sauté mode (with the lid off the Instant Pot), which would allow for intermittent stirring.

GeekMom Karen’s kid is one of those fussy people who hates anything new. Not unlike GMK herself at that age. Family lore has it that when GMK’s mom made something new, she would have a series of statements: Mmm, this is great! Well, we could have this again sometime. You know, I don’t like this very much. With this, we give you, GMK’s kid eating this recipe with gusto.

Boba Fettuccine and Ham Solo Carbonara

Total time: 1 hr 20 min
Total hands on time: 15 minutes

2 chicken breasts (mine were frozen, less time maybe for defrosted)
2 pkgs 8oz Neufchatel cheese (or cream cheese)
2 tbs butter
1 tsp chopped garlic (2-3 cloves)
5 slices precooked bacon
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp red pepper flakes
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 lb fettuccine noodles
2 cups frozen peas

1. Turn on Instant Pot to sauté. Soften butter. Plunk in 1 tsp garlic (or to taste).
2. While this heats up, cook 5 slices precooked bacon in microwave.
3. Add a sprinkle (1/8 tsp) red pepper flakes, sprinkle (1/2 tsp) dried basil, and pepper to butter and garlic.
4. Turn off Instant Pot.
5. Add 1 cup water and 16 oz neufchatel cheese (or cream cheese) to Instant Pot. Chop or crumble bacon and add to pot, then place chicken on top. Turn Instant Pot to Poultry setting and run for 25 min.
6. Take chicken out and let cool on cutting board.
7. Add 3 cups water to Instant Pot. Take fettuccine out and break pasta in halves, take peas from freezer and add both ingredients to pot. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting, and boil pasta for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
8. While pasta is cooking, shred chicken.
9. Pasta will release starch to thicken sauce. Add additional salt and parmesan to taste.
10. Add chicken back to pot and mix together.

Serve and enjoy.

Chewie’s Gooey Instant Pot Brownies

This Star Wars recipe comes from Healthy Family Blog, though for simplicity’s sake (I was too lazy to deal with squeezing the honey and cleaning the sticky measuring spoon from the original recipe), I used 1/2 tsp cinnamon and omitted the walnuts. Also, I shifted to adding everything to the butter-melting container to simplify cleaning (why have two sticky containers instead of just one?). I know there’s a risk of the eggs cooking if you add it to too-warm butter, which is why you let the butter cool some and mix the other ingredients in first. But I haven’t had that problem yet so my shortcuts seem to work well enough.

On a side note, Instant Pot Brownies is a name that is definitely misleading. These are brownies, and they were made in the Instant Pot.

Chewie’s Gooey Instant Pot Brownies

(Adapted from Healthy Family Cookin)

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
3/4 tsp baking powder (or 1/2 + 1/4 tsp)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
2 cups water
1 Tbsp vinegar, optional

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large microwavable bowl, melt butter. Mix in cocoa powder and allow to cool slightly. In a medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and mix well. Combine the flour mixture with the cocoa butter, then add in the eggs. Mix well. Add nuts, if desired. Pour batter into a greased 8″ diameter round pan or casserole dish. Cover the brownie pan completely with a two to three foot piece of aluminum foil.
2. Place the metal trivet on the bottom of the electric pressure cooker. Add 2 cups of water and 1 Tbsp. vinegar into the pressure cooker. The vinegar will help prevent your trivet and pressure cooker from developing a milky white film in it. Fold another two to three foot piece of aluminum foil into thirds lengthwise to make handle that will help you easily lift the pan in and out of the pressure cooker (I omitted this step, because the metal trivet that came with my Instant Pot has handles that serve this purpose. If yours does not, then carry on). Place the foil strip underneath the brownie pan and fold the edges together over the pan in order to easily lift the pan into the electric pressure cooker. Place the brownie pan levelly on top of the metal trivet and fold down the sides of the foil on top of the pan.
3. Lock the lid into place and pressure on high pressure for 35 minutes. Pressure can then be released naturally or you can use the quick release method.

The brownies can be served warm or cold, but they are easier to cut when chilled slightly. Delicious any way you serve it! You can’t go wrong.

The Star Wars Recipe List The Didn’t Get Tested (Rogue Recipes)

While we haven’t tested full recipes for some of these other suggested dishes, we have suggestions.

• C3PO Stew: Made with Carrots, Celery, Cauliflower, Potatoes, and Onions (get it?)
• Light Saber JELL-O: Pour lime JELL-O and strawberry JELL-O into bud vases decorated to look like a light saber (but adapt so tape only covers the bottom half of the vase).
• Veggie Sabers: Use the seaweed wrap normally used for making sushi. Cut into strips, moisten and wrap around one end of celery sticks. If you’re not particular about keeping it perfectly straight, use red or green bell peppers. Or die white radish sticks to whatever color you want.

May the forks be with you.

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