Market Vegetables with Dipping Sauces
Create by Art Smith

Market Vegetables with Dipping Sauces
Art Smith redeems steamed vegetables—the dish that gave an entire cooking method a bad name—with his market vegetables accompanied by peanut, sweet-and-sour, and curry yogurt dipping sauces.

Ingredients:
Makes 4 servings

  • Assorted colorful seasonal vegetables , sliced in a range of sizes
  • 1/4 teaspoons sea salt or juice of 1/2 lemon
Peanut sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts or peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon minced scallions
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped chili pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Sweet-and-sour sauce:

  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped chili pepper
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons grated carrot
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce
  • 8 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
Curry yogurt sauce:

  • 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
To prepare vegetables: In a large pot with a steaming basket insert, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add salt or lemon juice to enhance flavor. Place vegetables in steaming basket and cover. Cook 3 to 5 minutes; remove steamer from pot.

To make sauces: In 3 small bowls, mix each set of ingredients together and stir. Sauces can be prepared and refrigerated up to one day in advance; serve alongside steamed vegetables.
 

From the March 2005 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine