Wilted Weekend Curry

You know how it is: You buy that celery, those onions, the package of stoplight bell peppers with the best intentions. Then on Monday you feel like ordering Pizza, on Tuesday you eat out instead of cooking, Wednesday’s pasta carries over into leftovers on Thursday, and before you know it, the celery is limp as cooked spaghetti, the onions are getting soft, and the bell peppers are somewhat shriveled. Now it’s the weekend, and you know it’s a crime to throw out food you didn’t use. Wilted Weekend Curry to the rescue! I’ve always loved curry but thought it would be too hard to make. Then I started experimenting and realized it’s soooo simple! Just chop your veggies (and meat if you want) then saute¢ everything in a tiny bit of oil until it’s cooked through. Turn down the heat and stir in a spoonful of curry paste, a can of coconut milk, and enough bone broth or chicken stock to give it the consistency you want. Simmer it all on low so the flavors mingle, and voila, you’ve got a great curry-based meal to have on its own or to add over rice.

A few things I’ve learned through experimentation:

• Green curry is my favorite. But there’s also red curry and yellow curry and more. You really can’t go wrong.
• You can buy the ready-mixed curry sauce, but it’s way more expensive than buying the curry paste and the coconut milk and mixing it yourself.
• Curry gets hotter over time, so remember that as the flavors develop, so does the color and the heat. A little bit of curry goes a long way.
• Some ingredients that work especially well with curry are garlic, ginger, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and baby corn. But any veggies you have on hand will do!

I hope you’ll try it, and if you do, let me know what you think.