Whip up an easy vegetable curry with a hint of India. To shorten cooking time, I cut the eggplant into small cubes. The other vegetables can be sliced in a food processor.

This dish is flavored with curry powder. Bottled curry powder loses its flavor quickly and should be replaced if it is more than 6 months old.

This meal contains 506 calories per serving with 22 percent of calories from fat.

HELPFUL HINT:

Slice vegetables in a food processor fitted with a slicing blade.

COUNTDOWN:

Cook vegetables.

While vegetables cook, make rice.

WINE PAIRING:

Fred Tasker’s wine suggestion: Spicy dishes like these are nicely matched by wines with crisp acid and a bit of sweetness — a chenin blanc, a gewürztraminer or spatlese-style German wine.

SHOPPING LIST:

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for tonight’s dinner.

To buy: 1/2 pound eggplant, 1 pound zucchini, 1/2 medium red bell pepper, 1 medium red onion, 1 bottle ground ginger, 1 bottle ground cumin, 1 bottle curry powder, 1 small container apple juice, 1 small package raisins and 1 package microwaveable brown rice.

Staples: Canola oil, minced garlic, flour, salt and black peppercorns.

VEGETABLE CURRY WITH BROWN RICE

Ingredients:

1/2 pound eggplant, diced (about 2 cups)

1 pound zucchini, sliced (about 2 cups)

1/2 medium red bell pepper, sliced (about 1 cup)

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 medium red onion, sliced (about 2 cups)

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2-tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2-tablespoons curry powder

1 cup apple juice

1/4 cup raisins

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Wash eggplant and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Wash zucchini and red bell pepper and slice. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and eggplant. Saute 5 minutes. Add zucchini, red bell pepper and garlic. Saute 5 minutes. Add ginger, flour, cumin and curry. Toss well. Add apple juice. Cook until thick, about 1 minute. Add raisins and salt and pepper to taste. Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: 304 calories (34 percent from fat), 6.7 g fat (0.7 g saturated, 3.6 g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 6.6 g protein, 60.6 g carbohydrates, 10.6 g fiber, 34 mg sodium.

MICROWAVEABLE BROWN RICE

Ingredients:

1 package microwaveable brown rice to make 1 1/2-cups cooked rice

2 teaspoons canola oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Cook rice according to package instructions. Measure 1 1/2-cups and set aside the remaining rice for another dinner. Add the canola oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: 202 calories (26 percent from fat), 5.8 g fat (0.6 g saturated, 3.3 g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 3.8 g protein, 33.6 g carbohydrates, 2.6 g fiber, 8 mg sodium.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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