Asian Crunch Salad

I made this awhile back, and a co-worker really liked it. She wanted the recipe so I thought I would post it here, too.
I'm sure the recipe belongs to Nakano Rice Vinegar but I know I got the recipe from a magazine. I did a brief internet search but couldn't find it.
I've made a few adjustments to the recipe (such as adding ginger and peanut or sesame oil).

3 oz uncooked whole wheat spaghetti
1/3 Cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 TBS sugar
3 TBS low sodium soy sauce
1 TBS olive oil (or 2tsp olive plus 1 tsp peanut oil/sesame oil if you want)
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 cup minced green onion
1 cup coleslaw mix (the cabbage/carrot mix) or 1/2 cup baby peas
1/4 cup red bell pepper strips
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 (12 oz) package broccoli slaw
1/4 cup chopped unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Cook the noodles, and drain, and set aside. Combine the sauce items in a large bowl. Add pasta and remaining ingredients. Toss to coat. I prefer to add the peanuts now, but the recipe says to add at serving time. Cover and chill a couple hours. This is one of those recipes that is great in the summer because there is very little heat generated in the process.

The Secret Society of the Pressure Cooker Sisters

My frequent convenience food is canned beans.  My favorite real food is homemade refried black beans, as in beans I soaked and cooked myself, then refried in olive oil like Wendy Sherman taught me to make when she got back from Guatamala.  Just before she told me to stop dating boys and find a real man.  I was married three months later.  To a real man.  Real men are dangerous that way.

Recently my real man took me to lunch and then to Sur La Table to buy himself a milk steamer implement I still don't understand.  I confessed I really wanted a pressure cooker and then it was mine.

Because, duh, pressure cooker means (presoaked) beans cook in 8-12 minutes.  Still makes my head spin.

Except, I really don't know how to use one.

In college, before Wendy's cooking lesson, my housemate had a pressure cooker.  It was like playing with dynamite, I think they were illegal at the time.  I used to make that potato soup I was living on in hers.  I didn't really know what I was doing.


Somehow, not really knowing what I was doing, I pressure cooked the beans. They might have been a little overcooked, yet still were delish.  I rinsed and wiped the pressure cooker, but I don't really understand it or know how to clean it.  The instructions are useless to me.  I need to find someone to mentor me in this one.

Do you pressure cook? For canning? For what else?