a complete lentil: food inspired by advent

Peace makes me think of relaxation, calm, a wide open space and harmony. When I want to be “at peace,” typically that means an escape involving travel, alone time or a quiet nook in a cafe.

Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid, promises the Prince of Peace.  I do not give as the world gives. I am always searching for my completion, my peace, in what someone else offers – a soothing candle, exercise and diet, relationships, social media and entertainment.

My peace I give to you. If peace is something that he gives, if he is peace, then peace is wholeness and completion, something that only comes with the presence of the Prince of Peace in our lives. Peace is not the escape from our circumstances, but it is the embrace of someone, him.

He gives himself as our peace, and he asks me to surrender to his peace.

This week’s advent meal happened by accident, and turned out to be a dual effort by Husband and I. Lentils have been on my mind more and more as a good source of protein instead of relying constantly on red meat, and I love lentils in almost anything. There is something complete, hearty and nourishing about this humble…I don’t know what it is. Vegetable? Grain? Pulse? Last weekend I tried making Sri Lankan dahl for the first time in my life. It turned out well, so well that I wanted to eat it again on Monday as my advent food.

I made a big pot of it, and when I returned after eight in the evening, Husband already had a portion of it. But he re-invented it per German standards. It turns out that his grandmother used to make a lentil dish almost exactly like this particular pot of what I thought was Sri Lankan dahl, only the German version has sausage and – promise – red wine vinegar. Very strange to think of vinegar in dahl, yes? It soothed my taste buds and satisfied my hunger.

• Gerlankan Dahl sautee in oil chopped onion, crushed garlic and finely chopped ginger. Add a few cinnamon sticks, some cumin powder and a bit of garam masala and keep sauteeing. After a minute or two add red lentils. Fry for another minute or so then add water. It is hard for me to know how much water to add – I started with double the amount, but  as it soaked up the liquid, I added more. After the lentils are cooked and it’s a good consistency, chop some sausage into it (the better quality the sausage, the better it will be; we had the cheapest kind of smoked sausage available and it was still good). Add red wine vinegar at the end – go easy, add bit by by and taste as you go.

joseph’s stew: food inspired by advent

He was probably looking forward to marrying her. No one knows if Mary was beautiful, but there must have been something special about her to be the son of God’s mother. How long had their wedding plans been in place before he found out she was pregnant? Did she tell him? Did her parents tell him? Or was it just town news?

Joseph’s story called out to me from Matthew 1; there is so little about him, but the little speaks of greatness. Taking a pregnant bride would have been a blow to his ego, his reputation and could not have been an easy way to begin a marriage. I’ve heard that Mary was in her mid-teens when she had Jesus. I’m not sure how a teenager copes with pregnancy hormones or how her new husband did it.

The first candle of the wreath is called the hope candle, and I can’t imagine how Joseph made it through those nine months and the years after without a solid hope in what is real. Hope that he really heard from God. Hope that his wife wasn’t pregnant with another man’s baby. Hope that they could afford the trip to Bethlehem. Hope that she wouldn’t go into labor on a mountainside.

Hope that the babe was the real Messiah.

I wanted to create a meal out of the emotions I felt for each week of Advent. For this first week, the meal is inspired by Joseph, his simple trust and humble beginnings. This is a lamb stew with hummus and a loaf of bread. I tried to imagine what a poor carpenter in Israel would eat, and this is far from it with my garam masala and can of tomatoes (would tomatoes have grown in Israel back then?). But the point is that it is simple using one or two key ingredients that would have been available at the time.

• Joseph’s Stew chop lamb into cubes, sautee in some onion and garlic, add a small can of tomatoes and more water (so that it is covered), add some spices – I chose garam masala and some cumin. I also added a cube of beef bouillon. Let it simmer on low heat for a while until the sauce thickens slightly and the meat is tender.
• Hummus drain a can of chickpeas and rinse. Blend in a food processor with garlic, olive oil, cumin, salt and lemon juice. I didn’t have tahini paste, but it still tasted great and was a good consistency.

he is coming

I spent the first Sunday of Advent on a plane reading Matthew 1 and crying over the lineage of Jesus. Tardy in creating a wreath for our family this year, now I am thankful because on Monday I had a better idea.

Matthew 1 touched my heart – more posts about that – and I spent some time meditating on Mary and Joseph, their first year of marriage, pregnancy, the journey to Bethlehem and birthing a baby in a stable. Did she have the light of a candle? Who cut the umbilical cord? With what? Does delivering the son of God mean a painless delivery?

The western advent wreath with its evergreen branches, berries and acorns seemed out of place in my life this year as I long for the simplicity of the first Christmas where the only gift  available to a poor couple was The Gift, crying and bloodied with placenta and afterbirth. This is my small offering as I prepare my heart for him this year.

I’m calling it our Advent Table. Covered by a highly flammable wheat-coloured grass to symbolize the manger, rocks for the path they walked to Bethlehem, and candles – because they are pretty – arranged in the shape of a cross where the baby now man would be covered in blood once more so that we can have hope.