Vegan Ponzu Vegetables for Dinner? Yes, Please! Here's the Recipe! by Melissa Hurt

I crave vegan food from the Asian continent, but don't want tons of sugar or fried food on my plate. I'm so glad I found the cookbook Farm to Table Asian Secrets: Vegan & Vegetarian Full-Flavored Recipes for Every Season. This cookbook has been a fun way to cook what I want at home and share different Asian flavors with my family in healthy ways. Last night’s dinner was ponzu vegetables. My 5-year-old devoured this dinner! Tons of flavor, low sugar, low fat and filled with fiber. Yum!

You’ll need:

• ponzu sauce
• vegetables
• limes
• vegan coconut-based margarine
• brown rice cellophane noodles
• brown lentils (optional)

Here's how to make it:

Make the ponzu sauce (citrus-based tamari sauce) in the morning and let it set all day in the fridge. Cut up tons of vegetables – asparagus, cauliflower, snow peas, green beans, carrots, yellow onion, radishes – and cover them with the sauce and lime slices and then let it sit for 15 minutes.

Put a little vegan coconut-based margarine on top of the veggies and seal in a foil pouch. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. (I cooked brown rice cellophane noodles and brown lentils at this time.)

Take it out of the oven and … voila! … a wonderfully cooked vegan meal with tons of flavor. I served them on top of the noodles with fresh cilantro with the lentils on the side to offer a protein.