Recipe as interpreted by Lari Robling

If your plate most often sports a slab of meat, dab of vegetable and a wad of carbohydrates, the beauty of Lori Tharp's dish is that it easily switches you to a healthier ratio with less meat, more vegetables. Also, you can use what you have on hand or whatever your whim. I had a yellow summer squash hanging around, so I tossed that in as well. Here's what I used — note that the volume of meat to vegetables is about six to one. Try to keep the meat to at least one-fourth of the vegetables.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3 skinless chicken thighs, bone-in (Tharps uses chicken drumsticks)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parley
• Garlic powder as desired
• Pepper as desired
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion coarsely chopped
• 1 garlic clove or more as desired
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 2-3 teaspoons West Indian curry powder (or more!)
• 3 carrots, peeled cut into 1 inch chunks (about 1 cup)
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks (about 2 cups)
• 4 small or 2 large green peppers cut into 1-inch chunks (about 2 cups)
• 1 yellow squash cut into 1 inch chunks (about 1 cup )

Directions

1. In a separate bowl, toss chicken with parsley, garlic powder and pepper. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator at least one hour or overnight.

2. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat and saute the onion, garlic and ginger. When the onion begins to soften, add the curry powder and stir. Add the chicken and brown. Add the remaining vegetables, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about an hour and half or until the meat is falling off the bone and the vegetables are tender.

3. Remove the meat from the bones and toss with the vegetables and serve over brown rice. Lori Tharps enjoys lightly sautéed cabbage on the side and she likes to substitute any lean meat for the chicken for variety.