Peanut Sauce

When I want an easy yet healthy supper, I make peanut sauce.

Spooned over greens and brown rice, peanut sauce turns a healthy meal into comfort food. The fat in the peanuts helps the body absorb the nutrients in the greens. The brown rice provides fiber and B vitamins. The nuts and grains combine to make a complete protein. Yet it doesn't taste like health food.

If you're having a hard time getting your kids to eat greens, serve this peanut sauce. Your family will ask for second helpings.

Plus, it's an easy meal to cook.

I start the brown rice in the rice cooker. Fifteen minutes before dinner time, I wash the greens (last time I used collard greens and purple mustard greens), chop them coarsely, and throw them in a pot with just the water drops still sitting on their leaves. I cover the pot and cook them over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they are nice and soft.

Meanwhile, I stir together this peanut sauce that I adapted from Diana Shaw's book Vegetarian Entertaining. It's a California peanut sauce, not an Asian one. Yogurt smooths out the peanut butter and orange juice sweetens and lightens the sauce, which is quite addictive. Make extra and keep the leftovers in the fridge for a few days to add to cooked rice or spoon over steamed vegetables.

Peanut Sauce
1/2 cup yogurt
1/4 cup peanut butter (I use crunchy)
1/4 cup orange juice (1/2 of a juicy orange)
salt
cayenne

Mash peanut butter into the yogurt until well combined. If it seems too runny, add more peanut butter. Then stir in the orange juice. Taste and add extra juice to thin or add sweetness, extra peanut butter for intensity and firmness, or yogurt for smooth binding. Season with salt to taste and a dash of cayenne. It can sit on the counter for an hour or so until you are ready to use it. Refrigerate for longer storage.

Serves 2-3.