Red Curry

Friday Night, 10 PM - The Couch

Some friends are on the Daniel Fast. Some are doing Dry January. Others went vegan for the month.

Me? I spent the first two weeks on an "eat what's already in your fridge" fast.

This week, I'm modifying the Daniel Fast, hoping it'll help curb this sugar kick I've been on since Christmas.

...and as an elder millennial, I need as much fiber as possible.

Start researching recipes on TikTok. Looking for three meals Langston and I will both eat.

Chickpea curry pops up. Looks good. Watch another video. Then another. Six videos later, I'm taking notes, trying to combine them all into one perfect recipe. Chickpeas from this one. Cauliflower from Meghan Markle's cooking show. Peas, coconut milk, kale. Nah, I have that spinach that's been in my fridge for three weeks. Even better.

Side quest: Venezuela history videos. I think about that Venezuelan Uber driver I met in Colombia who spoke perfect English, although he'd never been to Estados Unidos. It was my first week in Colombia, and he drove me wherever I wanted all day for $40. I tipped $50 and felt shame at his excitement. Learned later that the same deal was $15 on Uber.

Wonder what he'd think about all this...

Focus.

Back to meal prep.

Two hours later: Plant-based TikTok and I have a plan. Sort of.

Sunday, 3 PM - The Car

"Langston, you wanna ride to the grocery store? You can get Starbucks."

"No ma'am, I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Can you bring me a super sampler from Chili's back?"

"LOL—No sir. I'm out. Love you."

"Love you too."

Sunday, 3:25 PM - Cala Coffee

Hardly any traffic. Windows down. "...No barkin' from the dog, no smog, and mama cooked the breakfast with no hog..."

Pull up to Cala's. Order my winter season latte.

A retired Vietnam veteran sits next to me. He's had matcha in Japan, says this place has the best. I tell him the coffee is from the farm where I volunteered in Colombia.

I decide to stay and savor it.

Sunday, 4:07 PM - Whole Foods

Windows back down. "...Ladies, leave your man at home, the club is full of ballers..."

It's PACKED. "It's jumpin', jumpin'..." I giggle.

Meticulously rummaging through organic vegetables and herbs, unlike the last three Shipt shoppers. Plotting the herb garden I'll plant in my new house once I find it.

I hit the curry aisle.

Stop for a quick glance.

Red curry paste. Green curry paste. Thai curry powder. Japanese curry blocks. Yellow curry. Massaman. There are at least twelve options.

What's the difference between these? Wish they had a taste tester box with descriptions.

Twenty minutes later, still standing here.

$15 for some paste?! They out they g'damn mind.

I grab three different seasonings, $4.99 each.

My phone buzzes. It's my reset day. The phone is purposely dry today. Shouldn't even be out technically. Three more texts. I hum "...why you so obsessed with me, boy I want to know..." under my breath and keep moving.

Sunday, 6 PM - The Car

Just left Trader Joe's. I need a blender.

Mental battle: Amazon vs Target vs Walmart and their varying degrees of harm to Black communities.

Amazon—union busting, warehouse conditions.

Walmart—wage theft, predatory practices in Black neighborhoods.

Target—DEI Rollback.

...

Pull into Target.

Sunday, 6:15 PM - Target

Stand in the blender aisle for ten minutes.

$39 or $59 with the food processor attachment?

Langston calls. "Hey mom, where are you?"

"At the store. What's up?"

"You've been gone for a while."

"Yeah, sorry. Looking at blenders. You need something?"

"Can you get me Juicy Fruit and some more oat milk?"

Grab the $39 one. Double back for his stuff. Check out.

Sunday, 7:00 PM - Publix

Wait. Did I buy any snacks?

Grab pumpkin seeds, walnuts, Gatorade Zero for Langston. Thinking about how to wean him off the sugar...

Sunday, 7:15 PM - The Car

Throw the bag on top of the 12 already back there. Ain't no way I'm cooking tonight.

Call Langston. "Hey, I'm on my way home. What do you want to eat? Taco Bell, Five Guys, or...?"

"Taco Bell, please. Five Guys makes my throat itch."

I get both.

Sunday, 8:10 PM - Home

Put the groceries away. Veggies sparkle in the clean fridge

Take a shower.

Eat three big bites of my Five Guys burger, 5-finger pinch of vinegar-soaked fries over the counter, swing the rest in the trash.

Five Guys doesn't save well. Brush my teeth, wash my face (again). Go to bed.

Monday, 4:30 PM - The Kitchen

Half an hour before I have to pick up Langston from tutoring.

Start chopping cauliflower. Brilliant idea: roast the chickpeas and peas for texture.

Put them in the oven. 350 degrees. 45 minutes.

Laugh, remembering an old date who said all Black folks do is turn the oven to three-fiddie!

Take a frozen sweet potato out of the freezer, put it in the air fryer for a 1-hour roast.

Exactly the amount of time it'll take to pick him up and get back.

Throw Milo in his cage and out the door.

Monday, 5:15 PM - Chick-fil-A

Tutoring's over. He's at Chick-fil-A with friends.

I call. "Hey, I'm outside."

"Hold on, Mom. I just ordered a milkshake."

I look at the clock. The chickpeas have been in for 40 minutes.

"Langston. Now."

"Okay, okay."

Five minutes. I grab my keys to hop out when he opens the door.

Pull out.

Sneed calls from my USAF days in Japan. We stay on.

Then I see it: a long line of bright red lights. Cars backed up. Not moving.

An hour passes.

Langston's snoring. Sneed's laughing. "Do you remember when I dated your best friend..."

God please don't let my dog and house burn down... Can't call the neighbor, I locked my front door. Note to self: make a copy of the key for the neighbor.

Monday, 6:30 PM - The Kitchen

The dog's fine.

But I smell it. Open the oven door. Smoke greets me.

Cauliflower is completely black. Chickpeas have turned into hard pellets.

Stand there holding the tray. Staring.

Sneed's still talking. "...I'm telling you, man. It solves all our problems. When the boy turns fourteen. Collect the specimen, then snip snip. Get it done. Before they get old enough to ruin their lives with unplanned pregnancies..."

Monday, 6:35 PM - The Kitchen

Open the door to let air in.

I need a stove with a turn-off switch like the air fryer I can control from my phone.

Chop the peppers and onions. Only one can of chickpeas left.

Do I go get new cauliflower? Nah. Scrap the cauliflower.

Remember Meghan Markle's cooking show. The monk's wife, Rahdi, blended sweet potato into the base.

Pull out my new blender.

Monday, 7:15 PM - The Kitchen

Pull out all the curry seasonings I bought. All three types. Still don't know which one to use.

Throw 'em all in there, and a little of the red paste I found in the fridge, too.

Glad I bought all three—gotta get a mason jar to combine them.

"You think they should have weapons training in schools?" I ask Sneed.

"Man... maybe...," he replies.

Monday, 8:00 PM - The Kitchen

Add the coconut milk to the blended sweet potato, few more garlic cloves.

Pour it over the browned veggies simmering in vegetable broth.

It's brown. The purple potato turned it brown instead of red.

Add some smoked paprika, the rest of the red paste, and a hearty pinch of Maldon salt.

Wrap up my call with Sneed.

Voice chat with Katarina, my hypnosis therapist and friend.

"Kate, my love. Call me Ina. I got this Maldon salt, and I feel so fancy, I swear it's making me want to live a more decadent life."

Monday, 8:30 PM - The Kitchen

Tracy calls. I haven't seen her since she broke her leg at the Magic City Tailgate. The one our nonprofit sponsored.

"Hey friend..."

"...Wait, they did what to your leg?" Mute.

"Hey, Langston," I yell. "Do you want curry soup or curry stew?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

I put her on speaker and pull on the strainer.

Pour the soup into the strainer until it becomes curry again.

Monday, 9:00 PM - The Table

"Alright, girl, let me get off this phone to eat."

The curry is red and thick from pureed sweet potato.

First bite: sweetness from peppers and coconut. Bold and bright from spinach. Bitterness from chickpeas and seasonings. Then the slow and lingering heat, just how I like it.

I eat two bowls. Then leftovers. Still eating on it, haven't made the other meals.

See you next week. 🥂

*Let's face it—three weeks in and Thursday's become the new Friday. So...

See you next Friday. :)

P.S.

Here's the base recipe if you want to doctor you're own version:

https://makeitdairyfree.com/easy-vegan-chickpea-curry/