Embracing the possible
and a satisfying recipe for mushroom Bolognese to fill you up
“The pandemic hollowed us out.”
Someone said that to me this week, and it struck a deep chord. When circumstances wiped away everything we were accustomed to, we filled ourselves with diversions of every sort. Yet, in the process, we might have tamped down our sense of loss, of anger, of profound change. The hollow shell lingers, ringing a dull tattoo of emptiness deep in our hearts.
How we choose to acknowledge that space and fill it with joy may well be the real work we still need to do.
Shining a light on darkness
If you’re like me, digging deep to do hard emotional soul-searching may be the last thing you want to do right now. It’s been a slog, and getting back to all that was is what we long for most. But here we are, in the present moment, and yes, things have changed. So how do we both heal the past and move forward towards the light?
Do you know the feeling when something happens unexpectedly yet seems preordained? You meet someone by chance who can help you with a thorny problem; you find a treasure that you thought was gone forever; you connect with an old friend you’ve lost touch with.
Or you read a book that shines a light on the darkest corners of your mind.
“Our painful experiences aren’t a liability—they’re a gift. They give us perspective and meaning, an opportunity to find our unique purpose and our strength.”
Dr. Edith Eger, The Choice
Perhaps you’ve heard of Dr. Edith Eger. At 95, Eger is one of a dwindling number of survivors from Auschwitz. Against near-impossible odds, she came to the United States after the war, ultimately becoming a psychologist, a practice she still continues today. Most of all, Eger is a beacon of positivity and joy, a former ballerina and gymnast whose signature is doing a high kick at the end of a keynote address.
The Choice is both Eger’s memoir and a roadmap of the journey she took to heal herself of the deep trauma she suffered. In recounting her experiences, both during her imprisonment and afterwards, a thread weaves through: the power of choice. Eger learns quickly “to pay attention to what we’ve lost or to pay attention to what we still have.” She goes on to say:
“…sometimes the worst moments in our lives, the moments that set us spinning with ugly desires, that threaten to unglue us with the sheer impossibility of the pain we must endure, are the moments that bring us to understand our worth. It's as if we become aware of ourselves as a bridge between all that's been and all that will be. We become aware of all we've received and what we can choose-or choose not-to perpetuate…Small as we are in the big scheme of universe and time, each of us is a little mechanism that keeps the whole wheel spinning. And what will we power with the wheel of our own life? Will we keep pushing the same piston of loss or regret?…Will we make our children pick up the tab for our losses? Or will we take the best of what we know and let a new crop flourish from the field of our life?”
The freedom to choose
Choice is an interesting concept, and one we discussed at length at our book club this week, where Eger’s memoir was our book of the month.
For some, there was the belief that our inherent nature can constrain us from making choices - the choice to forgive, the choice to face the past. For others, it was the subtitle of the book that held the key: Embrace the Possible. Not that choices are ever easy, but that our capacity to choose is always an option. Eger says it thus: “Freedom lies in examining the choices available to us and examining the consequences of those choices.”
Freedom, indeed. No matter where our choices take us, may we all have the freedom to make them.
Mushroom bolognese
from Vegetable Simple, Eric Ripert
serves four
While life is complicated, dinner needn’t be. And the simplest of recipes can yield infinite satisfaction. Chef Eric Ripert’s latest cookbook, Vegetable Simple, delivers on that premise. Ripert eschews complexity to honour vegetables in their purest form, and with cheeky irreverence. Where else can you find a recipe for breakfast radishes, with butter and salt or flash-cured cucumbers that only require kosher salt and less than five minutes of time?
This vegan mushroom Bolognese is rich and satisfying and will please even the most ardent meat lovers. I ground some dried porcini mushrooms and added the powder to deepen the umami flavour. A delicious choice for an easy Sunday night dinner.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, ground in a food processor
4 cups whole button mushrooms, ground or pulsed in a food processor
3 maitake mushrooms, ground or pulsed in a food processor (about 1½ cups)
Fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
1 cup red wine, reduced to ¼ cup
1 397 ml (14 oz) can tomatoes, pureed
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
12 ounces tagliatelle or pici
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional
Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic, reduce the heat to low, and cook the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes, until translucent.
Add the mushrooms, including the ground porcini, and stir well. Increase the heat to medium-high and season with salt and white pepper. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes until the mushrooms release their liquid and it begins to reduce.
Add the wine and cook until the is nearly dry. Add the tomatoes, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the Sriracha. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper, cover, and keep warm while you cook the pasta to al dente, according to the package directions.
Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the pasta cooking water, and return to the pot. Add a generous ladleful of sauce and stir, adding some of the reserved water if the pasta seems dry. Divide the pasta among four bowls. Spoon a bit more over each portion of pasta and serve. If desired, garnish with parmesan.