My rice cooker has maybe cooked rice a couple of times! I use my rice cooker for anything and everything including a modified version of baking. The following recipe highlights the flexibility of the rice cooker:
Recipe:
Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
Wheat Spaghetti
Spaghetti Sauce or make your own
Ground beef, chicken or turkey
Bring water to boil and cook spaghetti according to directions then drain, brown your choice of meat in the rice cooker, drain and place in bowl. Heat spaghetti sauce and add meat. Sometimes I mix the sauce with the spaghetti and at other times I serve the sauce over the spaghetti.
Next I heat water up in the rice cooker and wash any utensils I have used and wash the pan in the warm water heated by the rice cooker. This is an all in one cooking utensil for the truck.
White Bean and Garlic Stew
1 15-oz can cannellini beans drained and rinsed.
1 bulb of garlic
2 TBSP water
2 carrots peeled and chopped
1 med onion chopped
4 med tomatoes chopped
1 bay leaf
1 cup water
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
parsley - if wanted
Break the garlic bulb apart and peal if the clove is big slice into smaller pieces. Sauté the onion in the 2 TBSP of water for 3 minutes add the garlic and carrots. Add the tomatoes, beans, bay leaf, ground pepper and 1 cup water. Cook for about 15 minutes adding water if the stew becomes too thick. If wanted sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.
The versatility of the rice cooker is limited to your imagination and once I saw the small recipe book I realized only my imagination stopped me from creating different recipes. Many of the rice cookers come with a steamer basket, while I am cooking our main dish I will place vegetables in the steamer so everything will be done at the same time.
It is easy for me to set up the rice cooker, brown a couple of salmon patties, throw in a bunch of spinach leaves and within twenty minutes I have a meal fit for a truck driver ready to eat. I have used the rice cooker to cook hamburger patties, chicken breasts, make chili and soups, and even create omelets.
I have used a crock-pot with liners and found for us this did not work in the truck. Neither of us was able to sleep with the strong food smell that emanated from the crock-pot.
My rice-cooker is several years old and still works like a charm. I have a Black & Decker 500w 16-cup non-stick cooker that cost less than $30.00.