will power

It all started with a cute kid offering me a cream puff... And suddenly, 4 days had passed and I had consumed a very concentrated amount of sugar in each. The 1/2 cream puff, a custard, a lemonade, and a chocolate latte seemed so innocuous at the time. Surely these small items couldn't do any damage, right? I'm past all that!

*Blaring buzzer noise* My skin noticed. My sweat glands noticed. My eyelid noticed. I'm like a walking, crusty, sweaty puffy mess. Ok, while that might be a bit of an exaggeration, I do feel pretty miserable.

Today was square one all over again. I celebrated with spicy cauliflower and sweet potato curry with lots of green tea (it feels like I'm cheating, but I'm not!).

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Curry
(Joy of Cooking)

¼ oil
2 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tbs. minced ginger
1 tbs. minced garlic
2 tsp. curry power (Madras)
1¾ cups chickpeas, rinsed (1 can)
2 cups ½-inch cubes sweet potato, peeled
2 cups cauliflower florets (Mia adds more!)
1 cup 1-inch pieces green beans
1 cup chicken stock
½ tsp salt
ground black pepper
1 cup yogurt
2 tbs. all-purpose flour
1-2 jalapeños, finely chopped
¼ cup cashews, roasted and unsalted


Heat oil and cumin seeds over medium heat until sizzling. Add ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring over low heat for 1 minute; do not brown.
Stir in curry power. Cook for 1 minute, then add chickpeas, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, green beans, chicken stock, salt and pepper.
Cover and cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender about 10 minutes.
Stir in yogurt and flour. Add jalapeños. Cook, stirring over low heat until heated through, but do not boil.
Top with cashews and serve over rice.

*Especially good topped with shelled, deveined shrimp sautéed in butter with turmeric, red pepper and lime juice.