This is no ordinary cauliflower gratin. It features roasted cauliflower steaks in a velvety cashew cream sauce (no cream required!), topped with crispy parmesan breadcrumbs. It’s sumptuous and sexy, perfect alongside roasted meats or fish, or as a vegetarian main course. Also below you’ll find a date-night-in menu, in case you’re looking to share some love this weekend.
Hello my friends,
It’s appearing that this is going to be the year of the cauliflower. In January I shared these Mole-Crusted Cauliflower Tacos, which have become my new obsession, matched only by this Battered & Baked Sesame Cauliflower. However, today’s recipe takes the gold. It came about unexpectedly one Saturday night as I was pondering what to make to accompany pan-seared steaks. I’d been thinking about developing a creamy cauliflower recipe for a few months, sketching out ideas that never quite stuck, when this recipe seemed to land fully formed in my brain.
My favorite recipes usually drop in easily, or at least the idea for the recipe comes to me smoothly or spontaneously (although the testing indeed takes work). On the other hand, when I force myself to sit with the goal of, say, “write 3 new recipes,” they’re never as good.
This has made me ponder the question: How do we welcome more easy creation into our lives, not with just developing recipes of course, but with all of our creative pursuits?
The answer might surprise you.
Every morning when I meditate I ask my inner voice, “What do I need to know today?” More and more over the past year, with almost alarming regularity (to my brain), I’ve been receiving some version of the answer, “Keep it simple” or even, “keep it easy.” So often our brains want complications—it’s what makes us feel like we’ve achieved something. However, when I remember to come back to those words, keep it simple—waiting for inspiration to drop in instead of trying to force things, allowing for fallow periods (which are always the hardest), going with what is flowing—I’ve found the results are always (not often, my loves, but always) better.
In almost every spiritual teaching, the path towards freedom and serenity is one of simplicity. It’s a shedding of all that’s not needed in order to feel the spacious clarity that’s already within us. Buddhism teaches non-attachment, releasing our ego attachment to material things, thoughts and identities in order to find inner peace. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is already within us. The Tao Te Ching states:
The great Way is easy,
yet people prefer the side paths.
Be aware when things are out of balance.
Stay centered within the Tao.
-Stephen Mitchell translation, 1988
These teachings are about having a simple mind—releasing our mental projections, worries and thoughts in order to access the clarity and peace that’s already within us. Instead of getting swept into the sludgy side paths of the mind, we can take the easy way, allowing ourselves to be still and simple enough to allow inspiration to flow to us instead of trying to mind-muscle our way to a projected outcome.
So, all we have to do is cultivate a simple mind, and everything will be easy. Cool, no prob!
Ha.
As anybody with a brain knows, quieting these monkey minds of ours is no easy task, particularly in today’s world where there are literally thousands of distractions coming at us from every angle (case in point: my phone just dinged and I immediately picked it up while writing a freaking essay about distractions). However, there are practices that can help us cultivate simple minds so that we can invite more ease, clarity and inspiration into our lives. Meditation, walks in nature, yoga, deep breathing, and even cooking can be tools to crack open the door to the quiet room within our hearts where we can see more clearly, respond instead of react, and allow inspiration to come flowing in.
In the kitchen, dropping into our senses—tasting the cashews, smelling the garlic, stirring the sauce, feeling the heat of the oven on our cheeks—can help us return to our bodies and quiet the noise of our minds. Each action can be so simple—we chop, we blend, we taste, we smell, we move intentionally, building something with our hands, bit by bit. Even complicated recipes can be broken down into simple parts (although today’s recipe is easy to make, I promise).
I realize that if you make this recipe you will need to follow the instructions, which involves some mental concentration, but can you hold a simple mind while doing so? Can you move step by step, keeping your attention in your body instead of being pulled down the side paths of your mind? Can you find the easy path by inviting the process to feel simple?
This week, my invitation for you is to keep it simple, sweetheart. Set an intention for ease. See what happens!
A quick favor!
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Next week
Just a heads-up that there won’t be a newsletter next week as I’ll be traveling, but I’ll be back on February 25th with a brand new podcast episode (the first show of season 5!).
Creamy Cauliflower Gratin
That night when I first made this gratin, three of us, one of whom is a fourteen-year-old who isn’t enamored with cauliflower (like, at all), nearly polished off the entire baking dish (see evidence below).
Today’s recipe is for paid subscribers, whose financial contribution makes all of this work possible! This weekend I’m offering a Valentine’s Day flash sale (through Sunday) of 20% off paid subscriptions, so it’s a great time to upgrade if interested! As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.
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