Sweet and Sour Sauce

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I've been trying to come up with sauces to add some flavor to my vegetables. I often get ideas by seeing something on TV -- a commercial or Dr. Oz or the like.

So I decided to try to create a sweet and sour sauce so I'd feel like I was eating Chinese take-out food. I don't eat rice, so instead of rice I sauteed riced cauliflower in a bit of olive oil with a bit of my spice mix (which pretty much includes all the spices I like like turmeric, coriander, chili powder, cinnamon, ginger, chipotile pepper... so many more) and just sauteed it on a low flame.

Today's veggies (which aren't the same every day, though there are a few "stars" like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and mushrooms) were re-hydrated dehydrated mushrooms, a bit of roasted shallot and scallion (two shallots and one cut up scallion) roasted about 10-15 minutes in a 415 degree oven. (I sprayed a bit of olive oil on them), 1 1/2 10 ounce bags of fresh organic cauliflower (easier than working on the cauliflower head myself), some chopped red cabbage, a couple of handfuls of Brussels sprouts (cut in half lengthwise). What can I say? I like cruciferous vegetables.

In any case, you can use whatever vegetables you like. The important part is the sauce.

In order to make this sauce, I need to tell you what I drink. I don't like water, at least in large quantities, so I make herbal tea -- I use Celestial Seasonings in several flavors. The tea I make that I use for the Sweet and Sour Sauce is a combination of "Sangria Zinger" and "Watermelon Lime" -- I use two bags of each in a container that holds about a gallon of water and I add filtered water and 1/2 teaspoon of powdered stevia. (I drink this anyway, so I don't make it especially for the sauce).

Anyway, I take about 1 1/2 cups of this (once it's steeped long enough -- I use cold filtered water) and put it in my blender, add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar another 1/4 teaspoon stevia, 1/4 teaspoon of my spice mix (you can use whatever spices you want) and 1 teaspoon of konjac (or a starch of your choosing, like potato starch or corn starch). I whir it around in my blender and then add it to the mostly sauteed through vegetables (I saute them in olive oil with my spice mixture and a pinch of "pink" salt) and heat until the sauce begins to thicken. Let cool a bit and serve (on top of riced cauliflower) and eat.