nut butter sauce

I've been in a yummy rut for the past few months. Roasted vegetables, some kind of grain, some kind of protein and a nut butter sauce. Sometimes I decide to do a variation on the sauce, but it always veers back toward the delicious original.

We just ran out of maple syrup (I'm trying not to think about the ramifications), so I used honey instead. Here's hoping the local honey will keep spring allergies at bay. The pollen last fall and the mold this winter just about did me in. I don't know when I started to sound like an old person, but it might explain why I received an AARP membership packet last month.

The beauty of this sauce is that it complements nearly all veggies, types of protein and varieties of grain. Today I roasted olive-oil-coated broccoli for twenty minutes at 375 degrees, scrambled up some eggs with a little turmeric, and boiled some soba noodles.  Noodles, then eggs, then broccoli in a bowl, all slathered in sauce.

Nut Butter Sauce

3/4 cup nut butter 
[cashew, sunflower seed, almond, or peanut butter]
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar

1 tsp. maple syrup or honey
2-3 shakes of garlic powder
drizzle of toasted sesame oil

big pinch salt
big pinch of crushed red pepper flakes


1/2 cup hot water