Sometimes we feel all the things. Joy and grief can co-exist. We want to start with the joy we feel that the global uprisings in response to the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others are creating change! For those of you on the front lines protesting, for those of you sending money to support the uprisings, to the countless hours of un-paid Black labor that went into organizing this moment, and for all the labor that continues we thank you. Thank you for standing up to systemic racism and oppression, thank you for your work. Let’s celebrate together that the Minneapolis City Council is supporting de-funding police! Our voices can be heard. There is a long way to go and we need all of us in this work.
We also hold the grief of the immense amount of Black death and suffering that has, is, and will continue to happen until we can take down systemic racism. This is a lot to hold for us. If you are new to this work, and you are just seeing the injustice and inequity remember to be soft with yourself. We need you here today, tomorrow, and in 50 years. This moment didn’t come from nowhere, and the fight will continue. We trust that you are and will keep doing your part.
One thing we do to care for ourselves is eat lots of comforting foods. Comfort food looks different for everyone. For me, comfort food is usually something with a good amount of fat and salt preferably potato based. Also, any food that brings me back to sweet memories from my past is so comforting. It’s also a good reminder that food is never just one thing. White supremacy and diet culture often reduces food to it’s nutritional value. Food is so much more than nutritional value and it’s time that we re-contextualized the way that we think about it. Today, for me, that means remembering that comfort food can be relational. This recipe isn’t just about getting calories into my body (which is important and I’m thankful to be able to do). It’s also about remembering a deep friendship 30 years in the making and continuing.
This recipe is something Anne started making before she turned 10. At an early age we were already experimenting with different food combinations and enjoying inventing in the kitchen. We used to make ‘soup’ by throwing lots of random ingredients (whatever we could reach) into a pot of water and then telling our parents we had cooked for them. They were good sports, always saying how much they loved the food we made (even though we’re pretty sure they were only pretending to eat it). At one point, Anne started mixing peas into their potatoes and dubbed them pea-tatoes. For years, neither of us would eat mashed potatoes without peas (I’m sure our parents loved this new rule).
I’m making this for dinner tonight and I’m remembering how lucky I am to have such a deep friendship with this beautiful human who creates amazing food. I’ll be connecting to how the calories fuel my physical body and how the memories connect me to sweetness. This will be part of my survival kit. #covidcooking.
Pictured above: Anne + Camille cooking together at a young age.
Serves: 6 as a side
Time: 45 minutes (20 minutes active)
Ingredients
6 medium potatoes (I like the red ones)
1 head garlic
A drizzle of olive oil
2 tbsp salt
3/4 cup cashews + water to soak them in
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup frozen peas
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cover the cashews with water and put them in the fridge until you make the mashed potatoes. Roast the garlic. You can do this a number of ways and our two favorite are to use a garlic roaster or a small cast iron pan. If you are using a garlic roaster chop the tops off the garlic, drizzle a bit of oil into the garlic cloves, put this into the garlic roaster and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes. To use a small cast iron pan, peel the garlic and place cloves in the cast iron pan with a small amount of olive oil. Roast this in the oven for about 20 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Either way, the garlic should look golden brown and be very soft. With the cast iron method, it is easier to burn the garlic so make sure to check on it.
Quarter and boil the potatoes in very salty water until tender. The water should taste about as salty as sea water so that the potatoes soak in the water and are perfectly salted when done. Don’t worry if these feels like a lot of salt; you will be draining the water. Cook potatoes until almost tender, about 6 minutes, then add the peas to the boiling water, cook for another 4 minutes. Drain the peas and potatoes when the potatoes are fork tender.
Drain the soaked cashews and add them to a blender (we like the Vitamix) with 1/2 cup water until smooth. You can test for smoothness by rubbing some between two fingers. If it feels at all gritty, keep blending. Mash the cooked peas and potatoes with the roasted garlic, cashew cream, 1/4 cup olive oil, and nutritional yeast. We do not recommend mashing with a hand mixer as this can make your potatoes gluey.