Was Jesus a Vegetarian? Should Christians Be?

Vegetarianism is a hot topic today. Many people are cutting out some or all animal products from their diet.

When done for health reasons, this is a matter of science rather than faith. But what about claims that Christians should be vegetarians for religious reasons?

Some even claim that Jesus himself was a vegetarian.

And what are we to make of the slogan “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy”?

In this video episode of the Jimmy Akin Podcast, best-selling author Jimmy Akin looks at the evidence and reveals startling facts that are often overlooked, though they are right there in the Bible.

With charity and patience, Akin explores the truth about the Bible and vegetarianism and provides a balanced view of the relationship between humans and animals.

You can watch it online . . .

. . . or DOWNLOAD IT HERE.

Cooking with Shirataki “Miracle Rice”

I love rice. But it's high in carbs, so naturally I've wanted a low-carb substitute for it.

I've tried a number of things. For example, grading and cooking cauliflower. Texture-wise, that's not a bad substitute, but it tastes like cauliflower and not rice. Even when fried with oils and spices that you would use making fried rice, it still has that cauliflower taste in there somewhere.

I've thought for a long time that low carb pasta makers ought to make low carb orzo, which could be used as a rice substitute, but thus far I haven't found that–at least with Western-style low carb pasta.

I have found basically that with Eastern-style low-carb pasta.

Recently I tried a rice substitute made from shirataki, which is the root of a plant in Asia. It's the same material as shirataki noodles, just in a different shape.

I ordered a box of "Miracle Rice" from Amazon, and here's what an individual package looks like (click to embiggen):

Miracle-rice

As soon as I got the stuff, I realized I've seen it repeatedly in Asian markets. It's just that since the label wasn't in English I wasn't sure that what I was looking at was shirataki or that it was meant as a rice substitute. 

Here's what it looks like out of the package:

Plain-rice2

In this picture I was rinsing it (something you're supposed to do with a lot of even regular rice), prior to blanching it, which is all the cooking this type needs. It's already soft, but the blanching removes shirataki aroma and makes it smell and taste neutral. Same as with shirataki noodles.

And here it is all blanched:

Plain-rice

Next I made a stir-fry with beef and vegetables so as to make beef fried rice. Here's the stir-fry in progress. As it was cooking, I thought, "This looks and smells so good, all I need to do is add my final spices and soy sauce and I'd have a great stir fry even without the rice. Mmmmm!"

Stir-fry

And here's the final product: low carb beef fried rice made with shirataki rice:

Beef-fried-rice

So how was it?

It was quite good!

It was certainly the best low carb rice substitute I've had thus far–and by far.

The mouth feel is quite similar to that of regular rice. It's not unduly rubbery or anything. You can bite through an individual grain of this the way you can an individual grain of regular rice. The neutral taste does not stand out against the flavors and seasonings added to it, again like regular rice.

One point of difference is that this stuff is not as sticky as regular Asian rice, and so it is not easy to eat with chopsticks (assuming you're used to eating rice with chopsticks). However, I have an idea about how to fix that (more on that in the future).

I'm interested to try it in other rice applications soon, such as risotto, in a casserole, etc. Or in place of barley in soup (Mmmm. Vegetable beef soup. A childhood favorite.)

I'll let you know how it goes!

In the meantime . . . 

YOU CAN ORDER SOME OF THE SHIRATAKI MIRACLE RICE FOR YOURSELF HERE!

Shakshouka: South-Western Eggs the Middle-Eastern Way!

Recently on Facebook I mentioned that I was making shakshouka, which is a middle eastern way of preparing eggs. Basically you use tomatoes, onion, red and green bell peppers, spices–and, of course, eggs, which in this case are cooked directly in a mixture you make of the other ingredients. It has very much a southwestern taste even though it's a middle eastern dish.

Whatever its appearance may be, wow does it smell and taste good! (Video recipe to follow.)

Shakshouka

VIDEO RECIPE: Low Carb Wiener Schnitzel!

A while back I posted a picture of some low carb Wiener schnitzel (i.e., "Viennese cutlet" in English), along with a low carb equivalent of one of the traditional accompaniments of this dish: potato salad (with a soon-to-be-unveiled mystery vegetable used in place of potato).

Here's the picture again:

Schnitzel

Since the recipe (or the core of the recipe) is not something I came up with, though, I meant to post it. (Original recipes I'm saving for my forthcoming low carb cookbook[s].) I got busy, though, and that didn't happen at the time.

So here it is.

I'd been meaning to do Wiener schnitzel for a while, but it was Kent Altena's recipe that finally moved me to do it. Like any cook, I made a few modifications of my own. Instead of parmesan cheese as the inner lining, I used almond flour. And instead of deep frying the schnitzels, I baked them (not because I have a problem with deep frying–deep frying is no problem on a low carb, fat-burning diet–but just because I don't have a deep fryer!).

If you're interested in low carb cooking, I hope you'll check out this recipe, as well as Kent's other awesome low carb videos!