Sweet & Sour Veggies

This recipe makes enough to feed 2 very hungry people, or 4 not-so hungry people. If you serve it with brown rice or glass noodles it can easily make 4 main course portions.

Feel free to add chicken or shrimp to this recipe if you're not making it vegetarian or Engine 2. If you are making this recipe gluten-free make sure to use tamari instead of soy sauce.

Makes: 2 large or 4 small servings

Preparation time: 10m
Cooking time: 10m
Total time: 25m

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup green beans (cut into 2" long pieces)
  • 1 zucchini (chopped)
  • 1 red bell pepper (seeds and stem removed, chopped)
  • 1 large carrot (chopped)
  • 1 small yellow onion (peeled and quartered)
  • 4 tomatoes (golf-ball sized)
  • 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable stock
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon organic tamari (or soy sauce)
  • fresh chives (for garnish)
  • 4 cups pineapple (cut into bite-sized pieces, divided)
  • 1 cup chopped broccoli

Equipment: blender, medium-sized bowl, roasting dish, parchment paper, skillet

Instructions:

  1. Make the sauce: place about the half of the bell pepper, carrot and pineapple into the blender along with the onion, tomatoes, vegetable stock, vinegar, and tamari. Blend on high until smooth.
  2. Pour the sauce into a saucepan with the rest of the bell pepper and carrot. Add the green beans, zucchini and broccoli and bring to a simmer.
  3. Simmer until the veggies have reached the desired consistency (about 10 minutes) then remove from heat and serve. If you would like the sauce to be thicker you can use a slotted spoon to remove the veggies and return the sauce to a simmer. Simmer until it has reached desired thickness.
  4. Serve garnished with chives.

Roasted eggplant makes a nice addition the veggies in this dish. This takes addition time so I would recommend making the eggplant first then starting the rest of the dish. Here's how to roast eggplant: 1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC. 1. Either slice the eggplant (into 1/4 slices) or chop into bite-sized peices. Toss the eggplant and a 1/4 cup of salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Set a timer for 15 minutes and let it sit. Meanwhile you can make the sauce. When the timer goes off rinse the eggplant in cold water and squeeze out the excess water. Then line a roasting dish with parchment paper and spread the eggplant out in a single layer. Roast for 10 minutes on each side.