Food Adventures at Home and Abroad

So, one of my goals for this blog is to keep a food journal of sorts while I am abroad. My peers at the institute will be from Israel (Israelis, Palestinians), Jordan, other Middle East states, the US, and possible Europe. I am hopeful that they will share their food customs and favorite dishes. Here in the US, my friends and I cook and eat together to de-stress and make some time for friendship. It'll be something I miss when I'm abroad, but I do hope to make some new food memories.

A meal last summer

I ditched my college's large food plan last semester, so I could save money and learn to cook for myself. Learning to cook has been frustrating at times, but really, it's been a very rewarding experience. Last semester, I was limited by a very small kitchen (no oven, 2 burners), which was challenging. But the situation made me expand my "taste" horizons, and I'm thankful for that. The past few weeks, I've been staying with some friends, many of whom are vegetarian. That led me to try eggplant (eggplant parmesan), and now, I'm hooked. I wanted to see what else I could do with eggplant.  Here's what I made today with the housemates:

Eggplant Burger 

Eggplant Burger w/ Mozzarella Cheese

The burgers reminded me a bit of baba ghanoush.  The Tolerant Vegan provided the recipe. My version was sans tahini, but it still turned out delicious. I added a few garnishes: fried onions, fresh mozzarella, frank's red hot sauce, sour cream, spinach. I also substituted pinto beans for cannelli beans. This was definitely a hit and something I want to share. I'd love to try this later with tahini.


If you'd like to make these, here is the reposted recipe from The Tolerant Vegan: 

Baked Eggplant Burger
Recipe found at:  http://thetolerantvegan.com/2011/08/baked-eggplant-burgers/
Makes 4 big burgers

Burger ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil, plus more to brush on eggplant before roasting
1 red onion, diced
1 14 ounce can cannellini beans
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 an eggplant (should equal about 1 cup)**I used half an eggplant and got about 8 burgers....
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
 1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup classic hummus (or your favorite flavor hummus)
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
tomato, sliced for topping (optional)
lettuce, for topping (optional)
I recommend either tahini sauce or hummus as the topping for this burger. I ate both versions and they were equally awesome. Here is the recipe for the tahini sauce in case you decide to go that route. It's the same sauce I used on the Baked Broccoli Burger.
Tahini Sauce ingredients:

1/3 cup sesame tahini
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
 

Directions:

To make the burgers, preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roast the eggplant by cutting it into 1/4" slices and brushing each side with olive oil.
Bake for 10 minutes on one side, then flip the slices and bake for another 5 minutes.
Once the eggplant is done and you remove it from the oven, turn the oven down to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the eggplant is roasting, place the diced red onion and 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the onion softens
Place the eggplant, onion, beans, bell pepper, parsley, pine nuts, garlic, sea salt and cumin into a large bowl.
Add the hummus and stir.
Place the mixture into a food processor and blend everything together. It should only take about 15 seconds.
Pour the mixture back into a bowl, stir in the breadcrumbs, and use your hands to make four large patties.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray the foil with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray.
Place the patties on the foil and bake for 45 minutes, turning once halfway through.
While the burgers are baking, make the tahini sauce by tossing all of the ingredients into a food processor and blending until fully combined.
Remove the burgers from the oven and eat!



Thanks for reading!

-S.

Israeli Elections

 Hi All! I will not be leaving for Israel until mid February, but I wanted to overview Israel's recent elections for my own records and for any one who wants to keep up on my [political] adventures abroad. I just blogged about some basic events, and of course, there are many more interesting aspects of this election.

The Israeli elections occurred on Wednesday, Jan 23^rd. There were some surprising results, which will factor into issues including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israel’s evolving political environment.

Results:

Likud

The Likud party, who is led by Netanyahu, the incumbent Prime Minister, won the election. However, his party lost a significant amount of seats in the Knesset. Their party took only 31 of 120 seats. Political analysts had expected the Likud party to perform much better, and many explanations for their poorer performance center on dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s decisions and the emergence of a new moderate party.

Yesh Atid

The Yesh Atid party (There is a Future) won 19 out of 120 seats and is led by Yair Lapid. This party is considered more moderate than the Likud party, and caters to the middle class. A pertinent issue in discussion is the validity exemptions from mandatory military service. In July, a law that allowed ultra-orthodox Israeli to be exempt from service was overturned. The Yesh Atid party has stated that they will pursue mandating universal military service, including Israeli men studying in a Yeshava. Lapid has made it clear that he expects the next government to impose economic changes and resume peace talks with the Palestinians.

Coalition Government

Netanyahu must form a coalition government in a little over the month. This government will have to be comprised of at least 61 members of the Knesset in order to be viable. Analysts believe it is very likely that Netanyahu will include the Yesh Atid party. Given that decision, he will have to include at least one other party to meet the 61 member requirement. There are potential problems, dependent on Netanyahu’s decisions. “A coalition that joins parties with dramatically divergent views on peacemaking, the economy and the military draft, could however, easily be headed for gridlock (Al Jazeera).”

Sources:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/2013122214950510525.html

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/23/netanyahu-faces-challenge-forming-coalition-but-some-media-misinterpreting-the-results-and-check-out-these-interesting-voting-factoids/

Banner Quote by TNH

I thought I'd explain the quote at the top of this site. The quote is from Thich Nhat Hanh's poem, Please  Call Me By My True Names. I first encountered Thich Nhat Hanh's works through one of my first college courses, which focused on learning about mediation and Buddhism. One of TNH's central messages is to grow in compassion towards self and other. It is a very difficult message to practice, but I don't think I can overstate how much it has helped me. When I first read the poem, I thought his "identities" were jarring, even assuming or arrogant. But the more I read, the more I believe in his understanding of the emotions and experiences that link us. His messages are not diminutive or condescending, but a call to challenge the self. If you'd like to read more of TNH's works, please visit this page.



Call Me By My True Names

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow--even today I am still arriving.  

Look deeply: every second I am arriving to be a bud on a Spring branch, to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings, learning to sing in my new nest, to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower, to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone. 

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry, to fear and to hope. The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that is alive.

I am a mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river. And I am the bird that swoops down to swallow the mayfly. 

I am a frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond. And I am the grass-snake that silently feeds itself on the frog. 

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as bamboo sticks. And I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda. 

I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat, who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate. And I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving. 

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hinds. And I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to my people dying slowly in a forced-labor camp. 

My joy is like Spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth. My pain is like a river of tears, so vast it fills the four oceans. 

Please call me by my true names, so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once, so I can see that my joy and pain are one. 

Please call me by my true names, so I can wake up and the door of my heart could be left open, the door of compassion. 

Preparing for the Journey

This was an old post-I've moved blogs. Wanted to keep track of events though, so you are welcome to read. 

 I was only just recently accepted by the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (term starts in Feb!), so I have been focusing on more abstract preparations than the typical tasks like applying for a visa.

Here’s what I’ve been doing: 

Keeping up on Internal Politics:

Since the Arava Institution for Environmental Studies (AIES) looks at environmental issues through a political lens, I have been working to familiarize myself with regional politics that relate to Israel and Palestine. I have taken a Politics in the Middle East class, which has given me some great framework insights, but it was not focused solely on Israeli and Palestinian politics. I’ve been reading independently (Al Jazeera and US newspapers as well to see different responses).

Some recent and significant events:

Nov. 29^th : UN General Assembly votes 138 in favor to 9 not in favor (41 abstained) granting Palestine non-member observer state status; Palestine possibly able to join the International Criminal Court; US one of only 9 to vote negatively

Nov. 30^th: As a response to the UN recognizing Palestine as a state (limited), Israel determined to build 3k new housing units in East Jerusalem and West Bank settlements (contested areas).

Dec. 9^th: After much waiting by Palestine, the Arab League has pledged to send millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority.