Roasted Cauliflower with Capers at Home

Do you ever have a craving for something but you can’t put your finger on just what it is? It’s like when you can’t think of the name of a movie. You can visualize it, you know who’s in it and what happens, but your brain can’t make the connection and the title eludes you. Isn’t it the most satisfying feeling when it finally hits you and you can tie up that loose thread in your mind and neatly stow it away? My friend Sarah, aka the Ohana Mama, would call it an Ah-ha moment. Ah-ha, the movie I couldn’t think of was Raising Arizona and I was craving Basil Gelato! Ah-ha!

Well, I’ve had one of those moments on a big time scale. Yes, yes, I was craving roasted cauliflower with capers but it’s even bigger than that.

For the past month I’ve been getting these sudden waves of nostalgia. The feeling hits me at random moments. I find it in the morning light, or when I’m helping my daughter with her homework, or it’s hiding in the smell of asphalt after rain. It jumps out at me and I almost catch it, but it slips through my fingers.

The feeling is hard to articulate, like a craving or a memory just out of my minds reach. Happiness? Love? Definitely, as it is very close to my heart, but it’s something more than that. Deja vu? The sensation of already having seen something? Absolutely, as I am usually flooded with memories of my childhood. My mom helping me with my homework, the sweet smell of eucalyptus in the Kula air after soccer practice.

The thing is, our little family has been wandering around with no clear direction of where we are going next or what the future holds. We have moved 4 times in the last 4 years, changing schools, gyms, faces, everything. It’s been a little bit fun, a little bit sad, at times exciting and often exhausting. While we made the best out of each new place we arrived at, we knew it was only temporary. It was a sacrifice for work, but it wasn’t where we would stay.

A few days ago in yoga, I finally had my ah-ha moment. It was a rainy Kailua morning and something about it reminded me of the night yoga class in Kapalua that I used to take over 8 years ago. I was just pregnant with Tiare then and I remember having the same feelings and waves of happiness and nostalgia as today. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like I was where I was supposed to be, like I belonged, like my situation wasn’t temporary but on a permanent track.

The word I was looking for finally fell into place.

Home.

Roasted Cauliflower with Capers

Ingredients

1 head organic cauliflower (let’s go all organic, this is Kailua)

1/8 C olive oil plus 1 T for brushing

1/2 lemon

1 TB chopped flat leaf parsley

1 heaping spoonful of capers

pinch of kosher salt

cracked pepper

Directions

This recipe is from my friend Kaela. You might better know her for her mad wake surfing skills and fresh pasta company. You are going to love how simple and delicious it is.

Preheat your oven to 400. Rinse and trim all the leaves off your head of cauliflower. Then, slice it up like bread. Yep, forget about that tedious task of trimming cauliflower into florets. Never again.

Lay it out on a sheet pan and lightly brush with olive oil. Some of the cauliflower “steaks” might naturally break apart. Go with it. These little pieces will end up extra caramelized and will be so tasty they probably won’t even make it to the platter. Appetizer time!

Into the oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Mix together olive oil, lemon juice and parsley. Lay out your roasted cauliflower and drizzle with this dressing. Garnish with salt, pepper and capers.

Now I know what you are thinking Maui friends and family. “Nooooooooo, you said only one year in Oahu, how could you do this to us?” Or something super dramatic like that. All I can say is that for the time being this rainy, green little town of Kailua has captured my heart. And there is no better way to celebrate being home than by roasting something delicious. Don’t you think?

Love,