Chicken Paillard with Winter Salad + Simple Pleasures (for Simple Minds)

Happy Friday, friends! Today I’m sharing a meal that has become a winter go-to, especially for date-nights-in (which we try to do once a week—we feed the kids early then send them to the basement to watch a movie while James and I make dinner together). We’re making chicken paillard with a roasted butternut squash and arugula salad. The contrast of the warm, juicy meat with the spicy arugula, sweet squash and creamy goat cheese is utterly craveable. Before we dive in, let’s talk about a simple way to bring more pleasure into the kitchen.

Simple pleasures for simple minds

I have the most vivid memory of being at my best friend’s house when I was about eight or nine years old, and her dad saying to me, ”Simple pleasures for simple minds, Nicki.” At that time I didn’t quite know how to take that. Being simple is bad, right? I was a kid that got excited easily (I still do, really), and although he was smiling when he said it, was he implying that I was stupid? 

While I’m still not sure how he meant it, simple pleasures for simple minds has become one of my favorite mantras over the past couple of years. I come back to it often, especially when life feels overwhelming or stressful. When my mind is simple, clear of its rabid chatter and past/future worries—when I’m open and curious instead of bogged down by my own mental stories or expectations—then there’s so much more pleasure to be found. 

I’ve found that this is a powerful practice to bring into the kitchen. If I have an intention to adopt a simple mind when cooking, then suddenly the bumpy curve of a leaf of kale will seem remarkable (how did it grow all those moguls?). The swirl of butter melting into chocolate will inspire giggles. The smell of fresh mint leaves plucked off their stem will bring me straight back into my garden, even in the middle of January. 

This can be carried over to eating as well. With a simple mind, the simplest of foods can bring deep satisfaction. A pot of beans, perhaps slicked with a bit of bacon fat, will root me into my body with content. Sticky brown rice, sweet and earthy, will comfort my jangled nerves. A single segment of orange, eaten with my full attention will send shivers of pleasure down my spine.

In Mark Nepo’s book, The Book of Awakening (which has a permanent place on my nightstand), he notes: “One key to knowing joy is being easily pleased.” He describes how we are often trained to think that having strict preferences and exacting standards is a sign of sophistication, but that often they’re only “…a  means of isolating ourselves from being touched by life, while rationalizing that we are more special than those who can’t meet our very demanding standards.”

He goes on to say:

Yet, to be accepting of the life that comes our way does not mean denying its difficulties and disappointments. Rather, it means that joy can be found even in hardship, not by demanding that we be treated as special at every turn, but through accepting the demand of the sacred that we treat everything that comes our way as special.

Invitation

Perhaps this week, we can all lower our standards a bit, releasing our expectations in order to open to more joy. My invitation is to adopt a simple mind in the kitchen, even if just for a meal or two. Clear away the clutter of your thoughts and invite the everyday tasks of cooking and eating to feel new. You never know what simple pleasures you might find. 

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Chicken paillard with butternut squash & arugula salad

Part of me wishes that today’s recipe was for something dead simple, like “how to peel an orange,” but while this recipe isn’t quite so straightforward, we can still invite a simple mind into the process. This dish can be broken down into a few steps (roasting the squash, pounding and cooking the chicken, and tossing the salad). The result is a vibrant dinner that plays off of different textures and flavors—hot and juicy chicken with a cool salad, creamy goat cheese with crunchy pepitas, sweet squash with spicy arugula. While it’s one of our favorite date-night in meals, the kids love the chicken too.