Quick and Easy Peanut Sauce

(Or is it salad dressing?)

Periodically, when I demo in-season local veggies, I pair them with a peanut sauce made with CB’s peanut butter. While occasionally some one is not ready to embrace radicchio or purple sprouting broccoli, pretty much everyone seems to love peanut sauce. So here is the easy recipe and some ways to use it. I must stress that I do not generally measure for this recipe, and it changes each time I make it. Tweak the recipe below to make it your own.

Ingredients

•   1/2 cup CB’s peanut butter (or any nut butter you love)—local CB’s is available in jars and in the bulk section.

•   1/4 cup Master Miso chickpea miso. You can use salt or tamari, but chickpea miso adds richness without dominating. I use it in so many recipes, from dals to hummus to stews to salad dressings, but not in miso soup! (I use darker misos for soup.)

•   1/8 cup unseasoned rice vinegar.

•   1/8 cup lime juice, or lemon.

•   2 tablespoons (or more) of chopped ginger—try SpringRain’s locally grown fresh ginger in late October and early November.

•   1 tablespoon or more of finely chopped or crushed garlic (optional if you are using fresh ginger).

•   Dash of toasted sesame oil (optional)—available in bottles or in the bulk section.

•   Dash of maple syrup (optional)

•   Hot pepper flakes (optional)

Mix all the ingredients in a jar. Add water as necessary to make it the consistency you need.

Serving Ideas

Use it as a sauce for grilled or steamed veggies, or for proteins like chicken, salmon, or tofu. Try slices of sweet potato and stems of purple sprouting broccoli, perhaps some wedges of onion. You can also pan fry veggies in a hot cast iron pan to get a char and taste similar to grilling.

Thin sauce with a little water to make a dressing for a simple radicchio and lettuce salad (shredded carrots and/or some Midori Curtido are lovely additions). Toss in some cooked quinoa for a one dish meal.

Toss with udon, soba, or ramen noodles, and add tofu or chicken chunks, and/or shredded carrots and green onions. Or in the spring, add sugar snap peas.

Use as a dip for cabbage wraps. Chop up whatever veggies you have in the fridge and wrap them up burrito-style in a cabbage leaf.

Toss with rice noodles, cilantro, bean sprouts, shredded carrots, and a protein like tofu, chicken, or shrimp. Squeeze a lime wedge over it before serving.

Use as a sauce for any kind of veggie stir fry.