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Baked Falafel and Tomato Cucumber Salad
Ariel D. (original recipe)
I've been to Texas several times and I'm really wondering how the decline
of mall shopping has played out there, where it is too hot to be anywhere
without air conditioning for very long so malls were plentiful and popular.
Also: Christians!
I am not a Christian and I've never read the Bible but I was raised within
the Christian tradition and it has had a big influence on me. I think it is
pretty clear that you are interpreting it wrong when you use it to fuel
homophobia and related sentiments.
It's important to point out that Jesus did not denounce homosexuality and
instead preached compassion and hung out with shady types and was compassionate
toward them. A lot of people stop their argument here. I will not.
Basically, you are basing this on Leviticus and especially the story of
Sodom and Gomorrah. This is where the simple point about Jesus becomes more
important. You believe Jesus was a prophet. Prophets are people who look
on the infinite (God) and interpret it for the rest of us. In fact, you
think Jesus was the most important prophet. So why did God send him?
Because earlier revelations needed an update. Let's travel back to Sodom
and Gomorrah.
Everyone was raping everyone! It was a mess. God needed to lay down the law.
That is pretty much the tone of the Old Testament. So what does God do? He bans
all sex. Just one problem... Where do babies come from? So he carves out an
exception for married couples. This was not necessarily meant to last for all
eternity! It was to clean up in Sodom-and-Gomorrah times. Until people learned
about consent (we are maybe still learning). Remember, science says we are
born monkey-animals. Religion may be controversial but it has a good track
record of supporting civilization. With responsibility comes privilege and
now consenting adults are free to engage in sexual activities for
non-procreative purposes. Realistically, you shouldn't be judging gays any
harsher than straights. That is why your God sent you Jesus -- to shed light
on the Old Testament! So that you would see how far we have come and crucially,
that we have a ways yet to go.
Falafel! That sounds like a great lunch! And she totally cuts the parsley
with cilantro, so go figure.
Bonus discussion: New York is technically a border state, but not many
Canadians seem willing to give up their healthcare to make an illegal
border crossing, so I am perhaps not the most sensitive to the concerns of states
along the Southern border who label this issue a crisis (or use more
inflammatory language to describe it). Fine. I'll throw you a bone. I say
we treat the border issue like a hurricane: send in relief for those in need,
maintain order, and provide resources for areas hit by the issue. It's not
as geographically focused as a hurricane, but it is less acute, I mean,
immigrants aren't destroying buildings.
To be honest, my sympathies lie most
with those who make the perilous journey in hopes of improving their lives and
less with the descendants of immigrants who don't want the new people around.
That is why we must couple our border response with foreign aid to help
address the issue of Mexican gangs and/or criminal organizations, so that vulnerable people aren't
exploited and the whole process can be more humane and orderly. The U.S.
routinely flouts the national
sovereignty of Latin American countries to impose policies that we perceive
to be in our own interest. Maybe we should strive to be more collaborative,
and back up our policy proposals with resources.
The U.S. contributes over
$3 billion in military aid to Israel each year, or $350 per Israeli. By
constrast, aid to our southern neighbor is about $230 million, or less than
$2 per Mexican. I say we give Israel fair warning that we will be reducing
aid for a year or two (maybe don't plan any wars with Gaza during that
time) and use the money to address problems closer to home. Democrats
and Republicans alike should view the border as a humanitarian issue first
and foremost. No one has any say about where they are born, and America
is blessed with abundant natural resources and mostly stable institutions
and governance. Of course people want to live and/or work here. So let's
agree that we want to stop the suffering and exploitation. These are
people just like you and me.
"The border crisis" may be a conservative scare tactic, but it's their tax
dollars, too, if they want to send them to Mexico.
Salad
Falafel
- 1/2 cu. dried Chickpeas, soaked overnight
- 1/4 cu. fresh Parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cu. Cilantro, chopped
- 1/8 tsp. ground Coriander
To Serve
- Lettuce or baby kale leaves
Preparation
For the salad: Combine ingredients using your best judgment.
For the falafel: Thoroughly blend all ingredients in a blender or possibly food processor.
Form into balls and bake on a greased cookie sheet for 25 minutes at 425 degrees, flipping over
half way. Serve over lettuce or baby kale leaves, with salad and yogurt.
Discussion
This was the first recipe that gave me some trouble, but it worked out pretty nice in the
end. I made the falafel balls a little too big so I squished them to allow them to bake better,
inadvertently inventing falafel nuggets.
However, when mixing the dough, my blender was not entirely
up to the task.
A food processor might have been
the answer, but mine is not large enough. So it took a while but I got the job done.
Speaking of taking a while, Biden's evolution on gay rights. E.g., he voted for the Defense
of Marriage Act in 1996. OK. So 16 years later he changed his mind. This is a good quality
in any person, including a politician. But what does it say about his judgment and/or his
willingness to stick up for a persecuted minority? He isn't your crazy uncle. He was in
the U.S. Senate for more than 20 years before he voted for DOMA. He did not support gay
marriage when it took courage; he wasn't in favor of gay marriage until it was popular
and safe.
As a private citizen, Joe Biden should be applauded for seeing the light on this issue.
Give him an award. Shouldn't we hold candidates for President to a higher standard?
Joe Biden has been in government more than half his (long) life. He has more of a
record than anyone and maybe we should judge him by it. It doesn't take an Einstein to
realize that gay people deserve equal rights (Biden was 27 when the Stonewall riot
happened; this issue has been in the limelight for a while). Maybe the Democratic
Party in 2024 should nominate someone who figured it out a little more quickly.
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Utah