A whole heap of vegetables covered in a delicious peanutty, gingery sauce – what’s not to like?

This has become one of my go-to weeknight meals. It’s quick and easy to prepare and I feel really virtuous when I serve it up as there’s a good 10 cups of vegetables packed into it, which when smothered in a delicious peanut and ginger-spiked sauce are devoured with great gusto by adults and kids alike. I normally serve this with rice but noodles would be delicious too. This meal changes with the seasons and what is available either out of my garden or from the stalls on the road around where we live. In summer green beans make an appearance while year-round I’ll often include kale or silverbeet, broad beans or peas. While the capsicum in the recipe below is a summer vegetable, I’ve included it here as it was grown locally in a greenhouse. 

QUICK & EASY VEGE STIR-FRY

Serves 4-6

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 onion, halved, then each half cut into 8 wedges
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 medium carrots (about 200g), halved then cut into thin slices
• 1 small cauliflower (about 450g), cut into small florets
• ½ small broccoli (about 200g), cut into small florets
• 1 red capsicum, seeds removed, cut into thin slices
• 1 red chilli (deseeded if you don’t like it too hot), finely sliced
• ⅓ cup peanut butter (we are a crunchy peanut butter household so I used that, but smooth is fine too)
• 1 cup boiling water
• 4 tablespoons tamari
• 3 tablespoons grated ginger
• ½ cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Heat a large heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat then add the oil. Once hot, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes or so or until it is beginning to colour around the edges. Next add the garlic and fry for a further minute or two before adding the carrot. Fry for another 5 minutes before adding the cauliflower, broccoli and capsicum. 

Put the peanut butter into a heatproof jug or bowl and pour over the boiling water. Mix until well combined before adding the tamari and ginger. Pour this over the vegetables and mix well until all the vegetables are coated in the sauce. 

At this point I put the lid of my stock pot over the veges (which is actually smaller than the frying pan and sits on top of the vegetables) and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked to your liking. 

Remove from the heat and stir in the coriander before serving. I served ours with cubed and fried tofu this time. Toasted peanuts, sesame seeds or cashews would also work well as a garnish.