Monday. Ugh.

It is the Tuesday after a three day weekend (Memorial Day).  I know it's Tuesday but it FEELS like a Monday.

I wasn't too bad this weekend as far as food goes.  I managed to not eat any of the forbidden foods:  bread, pasta, rice, potatoes.  I did consume too much alcohol and we know that alcohol turns RIGHT into sugar.  Bleah.  No wonder I am draggin' ass today.

So, I need a restorative.  What to do?  Curry!

Yes, curry.  I need something packed with vitamins and spiced to make me sweat out the toxins of an indulgent weekend.  I don't pretend to be any sort of an expert on making curries.  My curries are of my own devising.  They are neither Thai nor Indian but I suppose they are based more on the Indian type.  Loosely defined, a curry is a mixture of vegetables (and meat) cooked in a sauce of strong spices and turmeric.  Seriously?  That could be almost anything.

Curry powder can be purchased in most grocery stores.  Or you can make your own garam masala (a blend of spices), which I have done and it beats the heck out of the store bought kind.  Unfortunately, the homemade stuff flavor fades fairly rapidly once the spices have been ground so I go through it too quickly.  I usually just use the store bought kind.  The madras type of curry powder is extra spicy.  Sometimes the situation calls for just a little more spice.  This is one of those times.

Curry
Serves 6-8

1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large handful sliced red chard leaves
1 Japanese eggplant, cubed
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 TBS grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons curry powder
8 oz poached chicken meat
6 oz cubed firm tofu
1.5 cans reduced sodium chicken broth (or 2 1/3 cups)
1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Add onion to Dutch oven; cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add carrots, celery and chard.  Saute another 5 minutes.  Add eggplant cubes.  Saute 5 minutes.  Add garlic, ginger, and curry powder. Cook, stirring, 1 minute more.

3. Add the proteins.  Incorporate, making sure all the chicken and/or tofu is covered in the spices.

4. Stir in the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil then immediately turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for at least 20 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft.

5. Remove from the heat.  Stir in the yogurt incorporating well.  Serve and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

** NOTE ** Play around with the ingredients.  As with all my recipes, they are just a jumping off point.  Add different types of proteins.. lamb is good, all chicken, all tofu, whatever.  Add different vegetables   Go crazy.

A big bowl of this spicy concoction will put you right and make Wednesday a lot better than Tuesday.  Oh yeah.