Tasty vegetables

I'm reposting this to clarify what I mean by chili garlic sauce. I bought a bottle of the red stuff with rooster and the green cap, only to realize that it was chili sauce, not much garlic. That's the bottle with the thin neck that you see on tables in thai (and some other) restaurants. It made an OK sauce, but it didn't have that dynamite punch.

So, what you need for this recipe is the stuff in a bottle with a wide green cap. You should be able to see plenty of chili seeds floating around inside. It can still have the rooster on it, but there are other brands as well.

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Usually, I take fresh vegetables to snack on at work. But sometimes, I take steamed vegetables: cauliflower, broccoli, yams, beets, cabbage. They can be pretty dull eating on their own.

Yams benefit from a bit of balsamic vinegar, a few drops of sesame oil and a scatteing of sesame seeds. Also for them, as well as other vegetables, I've developed a sauce that's so good I can't get enough of it.

I don't have exact proportions because I've been eyeballing it. Next time I make it, I'll make a larger amount and keep track of the ingredient measurements. For now, though, try this.

Mix
a few tablespoons chili garlic sauce (the kind that comes in a clear plastic bottle with a rooster on it and a green cap)
some rice or other light vinegar, maybe a teaspoon or two
a few drops of sesame oil
some tamari or soy sauce, not a lot, just enough to give it a salty edge

Serve it
on rice, other cooked grains and/or steamed vegetables. Sprinkle over some toasted sesame seeds for flavor and sunflower seeds for crunch.

This mixture is quite spicy, so a little goes a long way. I find the combination of chili garlic sauce and sesame oil to be intoxicating. The sunflower seeds take it to a new level. I used raw, unsalted seeds.

Since all its ingredients can be kept at room temperature, the sauce can, too.