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I do not know about you, but I just love Hashgacha Pratit stories, and since this dam opened for me, I see them all around me, and they still excite me so much.
So here is a fresh one:
Yesterday, a lovely cauliflower captured my eye while shopping for Shabbat.
I thought I’ll make a whole baked cauliflower in the oven for Shabbat Kiddush Dinner.
Taking the cauliflower out of the fridge today, I reconsidered: “maybe I’ll make something healthier” I thought to myself, and decided to go with my roasted cauliflower salad.
While breaking the cauliflower to small flowers, and rinsing them in the kitchen sink, my eye caught a little black something washing onto the white sink’s surface. I immediately shut off the water and dabbed a paper towel on it to lift it off carefully and see what it is.
The evidence is in the picture:
my cauliflower flowers were cradling a bug, or maybe a bug was nestling between the cauliflower flowers. In any case: I found a bug in my cauliflower. A bug I probably would not have found had I not break the cauliflower apart, which wouldn’t happen if I went ahead with my original plan to bake the cauliflower whole.
Thank HaShem for small miracles.
I’m floored by HaShem’s watching each and every aspect of our lives. I am so moved by HaShem’s Hashgacha Pratit. It’s these little things that amaze me anew – and I am so grateful I get to feel this in full.
Maybe when you grow up frum, you get used to this, like the Desert Generation got used to the Manna falling down from the Heavens each and every morning. You get used to it. It does not seem to be out of the ordinary when this is your ordinary.
How many of us stop to watch the sun rises in the morning in awe; Amazed by the miracle and its beauty. It’s like Hashem picks up His painter’s brush generously waves it across the sky and creates a unique and different color’s symphony each dawn; purples and blues, and peaches and pinks and oranges and everything in between. Sometimes he mixes it with clouds; sometimes he leaves the canvas as is. And it’s so pretty -- it can make you cry.
I used to watch it in the mornings as a teenager, in the Kibbutz. During the morning milking of the cows. We would start in complete darkness, and then it happened, every morning. You would pick up your head and there it was: breathtaking sunrises. HaShem himself reveals himself; I thought back then, I am still thinking today.
As you can see, even a cauliflower can bring us to tears.
Tears of overflowing feelings of gratitude and happiness to be in HaShem’s would and being fortunate enough to witness His watchful loving eye on us.
Here’s the recipe for THE ROASTED WISE CAULIFLOWER SALAD
Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Garlic, Silan, Pine Nuts and Raisins
1 Cauliflower – separate to flower and wash thoroughly, you might find a bug as well…
3-4 Tbsps. Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Mix all and spread on a baking paper covered flat pan
Insert to a preheated oven to 500°F for about 20 mins.
Mix occasionally.
When the cauliflower is Al Dente and browned on the edges – it’s ready.
While all of this is roasted in the oven, put a flat skillet on the cooktop and add:
1-2 Tbsps. Olive Oil
3-4 very thinly slices Garlic Cloves and
A handful of Pine Nuts
Mix lightly for a minute or two, and add:
A handful of Raisins and
1-2 Tbsps. Silan (Date’s Honey)
Immediately add:
A handful of chopped flat leaf Parsley as well
Take off the cooktop and add:
1 Tsp. Red Wine Vinegar
Mix all together.
Can be served hot, cold, or at room temperature.
Bon Appetite -- Shabbat Shalom
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[© Smadar Prager, CGP]
Smadar Prager, CGP is an Israeli Certified Group Psychotherapist since 1998 with a home based private practice located in South Valley Stream (Five Towns area, Long Island). She focuses on individual’s relationships with self, in the Family, Parenthood, Couplehood, and Body and Eating Disorders.
To schedule an appointment please contact smadarprager@gmail.com | 917-513-1490 (texts and WhatsApp are welcome).
Please visit my Hebrew Blog:
http://smadarprager.blogspot.com/