Mixed Vegetables in Spicy Peanut Sauce

Here’s one way to get kids to eat their vegetables, so long as they don’t have peanut allergies — cook them in a spicy sauce made from peanut butter and add a garnish of chopped roasted peanuts. All you need to add is some steaming rice or brown rice noodles.

Ingredients

Medium to large (3/12 to 5 quart) slow cooker

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

6 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)

4 stalks celery, diced (about 2 cups)

2 tbsp minced gingerroot

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns

1 cup vegetable stock

3 cups frozen sliced green beans

1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter

2 tbsp gluten-free reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

2 tsp Thai red curry paste

4 cups shredded napa cabbage

2 cups bean sprouts

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions, white part only

1/2 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

Method

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add ginger, garlic and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware. Add vegetable stock and stir well.

Add green beans and stir well. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours or on High for 3 hours, until vegetables are tender.

Tip

I always have a bag of frozen green beans in the freezer because they can be conveniently added to slow cooker recipes. They contain valuable nutrients: vitamins C and K, a selection of the B vitamins, including folate, and the minerals manganese, iron and magnesium. They also contain fiber.

Courtesy of The Healthy Slow Cooker, Second Edition by Judith Finlayson 2014 © www.robertrose.ca Available where books are sold.

Image credit: Colin Erricson