Tagines and Turnovers

For some time now, I have been wanting to do a post about cooking.  Instead, I decided to start a separate blog so that when I want to do this, I can (without changing the nature of this blog)!

I am going to shamelessly advertise that new blog, called From Tagines to Turnovers.  Hopefully you will enjoy this other side of me!

To tie this 'advertisement' into the current blog you are reading, I'll give you a quotation from a book I'm reading called Living the Resurrection by Eugene Peterson:

"The unimaginable transcendence of resurrection is assimilated into the routine and ordinary of actions -- eating a meal.  We have a long tradition among Christians, given shape and content by our Scriptures, that practices the preparing, serving, and eating of meals as formational for living the resurrection.  A culture of inhospitality forebodes resurrection famine." (p59)

Certainly something to think about in our culture of busyness, isolation, and fast food.

Satisfied

Food is good. When enjoyed in good measure, our eating of food can be a way of enjoying God's goodness to us, of pausing and delighting. That is why this week I am going to share with you a recipe that I discovered and enjoyed last week. It is simple, relatively inexpensive, and tasty. I think I will make it again tomorrow.

Chick-Pea, Sweet Pepper and Fresh Basil Salad
1 sweet red pepper (the recipe recommends roasting it first)
1 can (19 0z/450mL) chick-peas, drained
1 diced cucumber
1/4 cup minced red onion (but regular white also works)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil (if you can't find any, dried works fine too, as long as you have plenty of fresh parsley)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper

1. In a bowl, combine red pepper, chick-peas, cucumber, onion, parsley and basil.
2. In a small dish, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil,garlic and salt and pepper to taste; pour over salad and toss lightly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to a day (but I did two days and it was fine).

Eating is a powerfully repetitive and necessary part of our lives. No wonder, then, that it is used as an analogy throughout the bible. In what I find to be one of the strongest, almost disturbing, passages in the gospels, Jesus calls himself our food. I encourage you to read John 6:48-58 and reflect upon the source of nourishment to our souls.