Cooking the Good Book

With this week’s lectionary passage (1 Cor 8) about food sacrificed to idols, there is no better time to try out a foody Bible study.

In due course I will produce a whole book of recipes with Biblical reflections, (neat logo, eh?) but as a free ‘taster’, here is one of the recipes from my new Lent devotional book, ‘Broken Bits and Weirdness’, out in paperback this week! (Whoop! Whoop!)

Click the link to UK Amazon to get it in time for Lent. (Also available is US, Canada, Europe etc. Kindle coming out soon.)

This recipe features in the ‘Peter’ chapter, reflecting on John 21 where Peter and Jesus having fish sandwiches on the beach.

Perfect comfort food for these chilly days, this is store-cupboard cooking at its best. It’s great for a weekend brunch or a quick and filling tea. You can easily swap out the tuna for chickpeas to make a veggie-friendly version.

Ultimate Tuna Melt Sandwich

You will need:

½ red onion, grated
1 can of tuna (approx. 160g)
80g mature cheese, grated
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1 spring onion, finely chopped (optional)
fresh herbs, roughly chopped (optional)
4 thick slices wholemeal bread
butter for spreading

What to do:

Fry the onion in a little oil until softened.
While the onion is cooking, drain the tuna into a bowl and flake roughly.
Add the cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice, spring onions, herbs and fried onions.
Season with salt and pepper, and mix well to form a sticky paste.
Butter the bread and place two slices in the frying pan butter side down.
Spread the fishy mixture thickly on top, and place the other slices on top, butter side up.
Put a small plate on top of each sandwich and a tin of beans (or whatever) on top to squash the sandwiches flat while they cook.
Fry over a low heat for 4-5 mins, until the bottom is golden and crispy, and the filling is starting to ooze out. Remove the plates and cook on the other side.

Reading

John 21:12-17

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Now about food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘An idol is nothing at all in the world’ and that ‘There is no God but one.’ For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling-block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.