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Exhausted

Maizpana SupoYesterday morning, I made one my favorite new dishes: Tortilla Soup. I think I first had tortilla soup at La Parilla Suiza in Phoenix. It made a big impression on me. Sometime last summer, I had the idea that I could probably make some, so I made up a recipe. I browned some chicken with some chilis, added a can of broth and a can of diced tomatoes, brought to a boil, and then added a bunch of lime juice with a handful of fresh cilantro crushed into a each bowl. Poured over tortillas and sprinkled with Mexican cheese, it's become a favorite in our house. I'm now making giant batches with a huge can of broth and two large cans of diced tomatoes.

The first week of the semester was something else. I've started teaching twice a week for 50 minutes, rather than once for two hours. So far, I like it better -- its hard to keep the students productively engaged for two hours straight. But it does mean getting ready and teaching twice, rather than once in the week. By Thursday, things were a bit quieter, but there have been almost constant demands on my time.

On Friday, we had icky weather, but took Lucy out for her birthday dinner celebration at the Indian restaurant. I've been careful with my diet since the start of the new year, but I took at day off and splurged. It was wonderful to have rice and papadum and pakora (as well as tandoori chicken and aloo gobi).

I've been reading In Defense of Food which resonates strongly with me in most ways: food is a lot more than just something to keep you healthy. It's nice to get together with people for a meal and food can be a comfort and a pleasure. I think his thesis that "food" is necessarily better than food products is silly, though. Some kinds of plant products (like apples) evolved to be food and are undoubtedly good for you. Lots of plants have created all kinds of secondary plant compounds, however, that are intended to keep animals from consuming them. We use a lot of these in food as seasonings (or as drugs!) but to say that eating plants is good for you, overlooks eating all the plants that aren't, like Deadly Nightshade or Jimpson Weed.

The real case against food products is not a prima_facie one, but one based on capitalism. The real problem with food products is that they are engineered, not to be good or good for the consumer, but to make the maximum profit for the corporation. By organizing our society around what people who can are willing to pay for, results in a wasteland of cheap crap that ruins our lives and the environment.