tamari-peanut sauce over chinese-spiced veggies

eating the right foods can improve your health. this thought was planted in my head several years ago with a cookbook my mom gifted to me one christmas. it's called a life in balance and it's written by meg wolfe. her story is one of overcoming cancer by eating a vegan diet. many recipes in her book call for shoyu. as i researched macrobiotic diets and read the kind diet by alicia silverstone i found many more recipes with shoyu as an ingredient. i knew there had to be a healthy reason why!

turns out shoyu (mostly labeled tamari these days) is a healthy addition to your diet. shoyu is rich in minerals and antioxidants. it has great enzymes that aid in the digestion of your food especially veggies and grains. and because it's fermented it contains live organisms like lactobacillus. this is a good bacteria that we want living in our gut and intestinal tract. it's bacteria that can be lacking in vegans because we don't eat yogurt and cheese. so we should add shoyu/tamari, kimchi, pickles, and beer and wine (!) to our diet. beer and wine in moderation of course:) in addition this lactobacillus has been studied and is shown to have anti-cancer, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory properties. anti-inflammatory! you all know how i feel about that. it's key to defending my body from further autoimmune damage.

bring on the shoyu! but look for natural organic brands. other common brands can be unfermented and therefore get their flavor from a chemical process. natural is good - chemical is bad.

tamari-peanut sauce over chinese-spiced veggies

• 1/4 cup chunky natural peanut butter
  
• 2 Tbsp of natural tamari
• 1 tsp sriracha
• 1 Tbsp honey (raw sugar for the strict vegan)
• 1 tsp freshly minced ginger
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1/2 lime juiced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion sliced
• 1 carrot sliced
• 1 celery stalk sliced
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 tsp chinese 5 spice powder

1. whisk together the first 7 ingredients or pulse in a small food processor. set aside.
2. in a medium sized skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. sauté the onion, carrot, and celery for about 5 minutes. add the broccoli florets and saute 1 minute. add water and 5 spice power. stir then cover for 3 minutes. take off cover and let the rest of the water evap off.
3. serve vegetables topped with the peanut sauce. for my kids and hubby this is a great side dish. i love to add the veggies to some soba noodles and then top both with the sauce. this makes a great main dish for vegans and for me!

eat well! - j