Healthy Black Forest Smoothie

The diabetes is teaching me things I don't want to learn. It is teaching me that butter is not a food group. It is teaching me that white rice — the rice I have made every day of my adult life, the rice that goes under the greens and beside the chicken and beneath the oxtails — white rice is a "simple carbohydrate" that spikes blood sugar the way a match spikes a fire. It is teaching me that sweet tea — my sweet tea, the sweet tea of the South, the sweet tea that is essentially liquid pie — is off the menu unless I want to negotiate with my pancreas, and my pancreas is no longer accepting negotiations.

I am adapting. Grudgingly. With the enthusiasm of a cat being bathed. But I am adapting because the alternative is not adapting, and not adapting means complications, and complications means hospitals, and hospitals mean I am not in my kitchen, and not being in my kitchen is the one outcome I will not accept.

The adaptations: brown rice instead of white (still terrible, but less terrible with enough hot sauce). Honey instead of sugar in the tea (a compromise I can live with). Smaller portions of cornbread (this one hurt; this one felt personal). More vegetables, more lean protein, more fish. Less butter. Less lard. Less of the things that made the food taste like Hattie Pearl's kitchen and more of the things that make the food taste like a wellness seminar.

But — and this is important — I am not giving up the food. I am changing the food. There is a difference. Giving up means surrender. Changing means evolution. The food evolves. The cook evolves. The flavors find new homes. The cast iron skillet doesn't care whether you're frying in butter or olive oil — the skillet just wants to cook. The skillet is the most adaptable thing in this kitchen. I should learn from the skillet the way I learned from the garden: just keep producing. Just keep feeding. Just keep going.

Kayla checks my blood sugar every time she comes over. She is gentle about it but firm, the way she is with her patients, the way I was with the children at Hodge who didn't want to eat their vegetables — you don't force, you don't lecture, you just put the thing in front of them and you stand there with a face that says, "This is not optional. This is love disguised as something you don't want." She learned that face from me. She is now using it against me. I am simultaneously proud and annoyed.

Made salmon tonight. Baked salmon with roasted sweet potatoes and sautéed kale. The diabetes dinner. It was... fine. It was fine. The salmon was good. The sweet potatoes were good. The kale was kale. I am learning to live in the land of "fine" and "good" instead of the land of "Lord, that's the best thing I've ever eaten." The land of "fine" is not terrible. It's just quieter.

Now go on and feed somebody.

The salmon was fine. The sweet potatoes were good. And when Kayla left and the kitchen got quiet, I stood there wanting something sweet — not sweet tea sweet, not pie sweet, but just a little something to close the night on my own terms. I found this smoothie a few weeks back, and I won’t lie to you: it tastes like a compromise that turned into something real. The cherries bring the fruit, the cocoa brings the depth, and my pancreas doesn’t have anything to say about it. That’s about as close to a win as the land of “fine” gets.

Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 5 min | Servings: 1

Ingredients

1 cup frozen dark sweet cherries (unsweetened)
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or low-fat milk)
1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon honey (optional, to taste)
1/2 cup ice cubes

Instructions

Combine. Add the frozen cherries, almond milk, Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and honey (if using) to a blender.
Blend. Add the ice cubes and blend on high for 45–60 seconds until completely smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides if needed and blend again for 15 seconds.
Taste and adjust. Taste the smoothie. Add a touch more honey or a few extra cherries if you want it sweeter, or a pinch more cocoa if you want it richer.
Serve immediately. Pour into a tall glass and drink right away for the best texture. A wide straw helps with the thick consistency.

Nutrition (per serving)

Healthy Black Forest Smoothie — Something Sweet in the Land of Fine