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.
Servings: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 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
    Directions
    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

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