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April 22, 2013

BBQ Tofu Salad

Leave a Comment / Blogs, Food, Mobile, Mobile Sections, News, Recipes /

My meat loving-iron pumping brothers often refer to tofu as “hippie food”. I guess I can’t argue that going to a steakhouse and ordering a bone-in Tofu filet would be rather anti-climactic, however, there are plenty of ways to prepare tofu that are easy, healthy, great tasting, and satisfying even to “real men”.

Health benefits of tofu: Tofu is an excellent source of protein, minus the fat and dense calories of meat. Tofu has been found to be a great source of calcium, vitamin E, as well as indications of lowering cholesterol and risk of certain cancers. (Not all tofu is made the same. Check the label of the tofu you buy to make sure it has calcium.)

So here it is: a male tested, well balanced, irresistible and vegetarian main salad.

BBQ Tofu Salad

1 package, House Foods Medium Firm Tofu (you can find this at Whole Foods and most grocery stores)

1 head Romain lettuce, finely chopped

2 Red Peppers, grilled

1 Onion, grilled and sliced

1 Corn on the cob, grilled

2 Zucchinis, grilled

15 Cherry tomatos, halved

1/2 Jicama, thinly sliced

3 Persian Cucumbers, chopped

2 Green scallions, chopped

1 Avocado, diced

3/4 cup Gradma Koyotes BBQ sauce, or another brand with no sugar (Whole Foods)

Spices: garlic powder, sea salt, pepper, dried basil, dried oregano, cayenne pepper Olive oil for grilling

1. Place chopped lettuce, jicama, cucumbers, avocado, scallions, and tomato in the bowl with the grilled vegetables

2. To make the grilled vegetables: Brush the peppers, onions, zucchini, and corn with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, basil, cayenne, and oregano. Grill over a medium high flame until the vegetables are charred. (You can also bake the vegetables in a 425 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until browned). Chop all the grilled vegetables and cut the corn kernels off the cob. Mix in with raw chopped vegetables.

3. For the tofu: Either on tin foil on the grill or a stovetop pan over medium heat,, dice the tofu with the BBQ sauce. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes until heated through and the BBQ sauce has a chance to seep into the cubes of tofu.

4. Mix up the salad. Plate. Top with tofu and any extra BBQ sauce. The olive oil from the grilled vegetables and the extra BBQ sauce will create enough flavor and texture that you won’t need any extra dressing.

 

Arielle is a proponent of happy and fullfilled living through great and healthy food.  Get more recipes or become a client and make a change in your life with easy, health focused cooking classes and wellness coaching at www.relishlifela.com

BBQ Tofu Salad Read More »

Hagel’s Message: There’s No Daylight (Between Him and Obama)

Leave a Comment / Israel, Israel, Middle East, News, Rosners Domain-mobile, United States /

One wonders what it feels like to be Chuck Hagel visiting Israel, not very long after his contentious confirmation battle in which accusations related to his views on Israel were front and center; one wonders what Hagel really thinks as he talks to his Israeli counterparts whom he knows disagree with him and are possibly skeptical about his true feelings; one wonders if the battle-scarred Hagel is more likely to be more approachable (because he doesn’t want Israel to become an issue), less so (because his feelings were hurt) or just about the same (because he is the Secretary of Defense and has no time to waste on feelings).

On the plane on his way to Israel, prior to Hagel’s good, short, visit, the Secretary of Defense told reporters that “Iran presents a threat in its nuclear program and Israel will make the decisions that Israel must make to protect itself and defend itself”. The Jerusalem Post quoted him saying this under the headline: “Hagel: Israel has right to decide on Iran strike” – but that’s not necessarily an accurate summary of what Hagel said. He didn’t talk about a “right” to make this or that decision – he talked about the actual making of a decision. In fact, he said nothing but the most obvious: “Israel will make the decisions that Israel must make” is like “Shmuel will write about Chuck what Shmuel must write”. That is to say: the decision that will be made is the decision that will be made.

Look at all the other things he said.

He said that the unprecedented aid package to Israel would guarantee Israel's “military superiority over any enemy state, non-state or coalition”. That might be true and is definitely positive. But this also means that the Obama administration can now more forcefully argue that Israel's superiority should have a calming effect – namely, that it doesn’t need to be as nervous about Iran’s growing power.

He also said: “it’s important that we all keep our eye focused on the objective… there is no daylight there at all — that Iran is prevented from acquiring that nuclear capacity.” Keeping one's eyes focused is naturally the better option, and it is good that the objective is clear. Note, though, that the “no daylight” comment is specifically related to the “objective” and not to the measures that are to be taken to reach this objective. What this means is that there is still daylight on the issue of time tables and the use of credible threat.

Hagel said that the aid to Israel and to other countries in the region is “another very clear signal to Iran”. But I’m not sure if this signal will be interpreted in Tehran the way Hagel expects it to be. Maybe the Iranians will see it as sign that the Americans are reluctant to act and will only give weapons to countries in the region to defend themselves – a threat not as great as the that of a possible direct US intervention. Or maybe the Iranians will think that this is the American way of telling other countries – such as Israel – to not use force against Iran. Or maybe they’ll think: that’s all very impressive, but not nearly as impressive as a nuclear bomb.

“The military option is one option that remains on the table, must remain on the table,” Hagel said. “But military options, I think most of us feel, should be the last option”. Again, a statement with which no one can even argue. The question isn’t whether the military option should be “last” – of course it should. The question was always: when is “last”? How much time do we have before reaching the moment that is “last”, the moment after which the “option” would no longer be available. It has become boringly clear in the last months and years that Israel’s timetable and the US’ timetable are different. This difference makes Israel nervous – because it makes it possible for the US to wait with the Iranian crisis until after Israel can no longer operate – and it makes the US nervous – because it might make Israel jump its guns and preempt a possible peaceful solution to the crisis.

Thus, Hagel’s visit was a good visit not because there’s no daylight between Israel and the US on Iran. It was good in the sense that there was no detectible “daylight” between Hagel’s message from today, and President Obama’s message from a couple of weeks ago.

Hagel’s Message: There’s No Daylight (Between Him and Obama) Read More »

Suspected marathon bomber may never speak again, Israeli director of Boston hospital says

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Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may never speak again, the expatriate Israeli director of the Boston hospital where Tsarnaev is being treated told an Israeli news site.

Tsarnaev, 19, was wounded in his throat, Kevin Ilan Tabb of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, told Ynet.

Tabb is a board member of Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem, where he studied medicine and completed his residency.

“Unfortunately, I have had a lot of experience with these types of injuries after years of treating people injured in terror attacks in Israel,” Tabb, 49, told Ynet.

He added, “We have a few Israeli doctors in the emergency room, and the director of the ER is also Israeli. But most of the physicians at the hospital are not Israeli, and they functioned exceptionally well.”

Police have been unable to question Tsarnaev, a student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth who was captured following a 24-hour chase that left the Boston area in lockdown.

Tsarnaev was captured Friday night hiding in a winterized boat in the Boston suburb of Watertown, Mass., and was hospitalized in serious condition. He was wounded during an early Friday morning shootout with police that killed his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, who also had been a suspect in the April 15 marathon bombing.

During the chase through Boston-area suburbs, a campus officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was killed and a transit policeman was seriously wounded.

The two bombs allegedly planted by the Tsarnaevs at the marathon's finish line killed three people and wounded more than 180.

“I’m confident that we have the courage and the resilience and the spirit to overcome these challenges and to go forward,” President Obama said in a statement from the White House shortly after Tsarnaev was captured.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev reportedly became indoctrinated in radical Islam and influenced his younger brother. Both Tsarnaevs, originally from the Chechnya area of Russia, are naturalized U.S. citizens.

Suspected marathon bomber may never speak again, Israeli director of Boston hospital says Read More »

Hosting U.S. defense chief, Israel hints at patience on Iran

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Israel suggested on Monday it would be patient before taking any military action against Iran's nuclear program, saying during a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel there was still time for other options.

With Iran's presidential election approaching in June there has been a pause in hawkish rhetoric by Israel, which has long hinted at possible air strikes to deny its arch-foe any means to make an atomic bomb, while efforts by six world powers to find a negotiated solution with Tehran have proved fruitless so far.

“We believe that the military option, which is well discussed, should be the last resort,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon told reporters at a news conference with Hagel.

“And there are other tools to be used and to be exhausted,” Yaalon said, listing diplomacy, economic sanctions and “moral support” for domestic opponents of Iran's hardline Islamist leadership.

Iran has denied seeking nuclear weapons capability, saying it is enriching uranium only for domestic energy purposes while calling for the elimination of the Jewish state. Israel is widely believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal.

U.S. President Barack Obama has in the past clashed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how urgent the need may be to consider military action against Iran. Washington has suggested more time should be given for concerted diplomacy combined with sanctions pressure to produce a peaceful solution.

But with Obama recently installed in his second term, and Netanyahu in his third, the allies have publicly closed ranks. The United States projects more defense aid for Israel after the current disbursements of some $3 billion a year expire in 2017. And Hagel unveiled the planned sale to Israel of missiles, warplane radars, troop transport planes and refueling jets.

“These decisions underscore that the military-to-military cooperation between the U.S. and Israel is stronger than ever, and that defense cooperation will only continue to deepen in the future,” Hagel said.

By contrast, the Bush administration in 2008 declined to provide Israel with refueling tankers and missiles that might be used in a strike on Iran.

MILITARY OPTIONS REMAIN ON TABLE

Before taking the helm at the Pentagon, Hagel had stirred ire among pro-Israel Americans for remarks including skepticism about the feasibility and desirability of such military action.

But in Israel, the second foreign country he has visited as defense secretary after Afghanistan, Hagel hewed to Obama's line. “All military options and every option must remain on the table in dealing with Iran,” he said.

“I support the president's position on Iran. And it's very simple and I have stated it here … Our position is Iran will not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon – the prevention of Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Period.”

Iranian media reported on Monday that Iran and officials from the United Nations nuclear watchdog would hold a new round of talks on May 21 in Vienna. The International Atomic Energy Agency wants inspectors to restart a long-stalled investigation in Iran's suspected atomic bomb research.

From Israel, Hagel travels to Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The latter two Gulf Arab countries, which are also wary of Iran's nuclear ambitions, stand to win a major U.S. arms sale.

After lengthy disagreement, Israeli and U.S. estimates of when Iran might be able to produce a first nuclear weapon now largely dovetail to a time frame of about a year.

Hagel also said that non-military pressure on Iran has yet to be exhausted. “The sanctions on Iran are as potent and deep and wide a set of international sanctions that we have ever seen on any country. And those will continue to increase,” he said.

“Whether it leads to an outcome that we desire remains to be seen … and as I said, the military option is always an option.”

After the news conference, Hagel boarded an Israeli military helicopter for an aerial tour of the Golan Heights frontier.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Mark Heinrich)

Hosting U.S. defense chief, Israel hints at patience on Iran Read More »

Ergogan disregards Kerry request to postpone Gaza visit

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Turkey's prime minister will go ahead with a planned visit next month to Gaza, despite a request from US Secretary of State John Kerry to postpone.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly refused Kerry's request Sunday to postpone the visit, during a meeting between the two leaders in Istanbul. Erdogan had previously postponed his visit from this month until next, to take place after a scheduled meeting in Washington in mid-May.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also asked Erdogan to delay the visit during a meeting between the two men in Istanbul, saying it could harm relations between the West Bank and Gaza.

Erdogan reportedly plans to visit Gaza on or around May 31, the three-year anniversary of the Mavi Marmara incident, in which nine Turkish citizens were killed when Israeli naval commandoes raided the ship attempting to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza.

Israeli negotiators on Monday met in Ankara with Turkish officials to discuss paying compensation to the families of the victims of the 2010 raid.

The negotiations are part of the process of restoring diplomatic ties between Israel and Turkey which were severed following the raid and which began the process of being repaired following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apology last month to Erdogan.

Ergogan disregards Kerry request to postpone Gaza visit Read More »

April 22, 2013

Leave a Comment / Israel, Must Reads, News, Rosners Domain-mobile /

The US

Headline: Arms deal with Middle East allies signal to Iran: Hagel

To Read: Longtime Itzhak Rabin Advisor Eitan Haber is impressed by the American vigor following the Boston Bombing-

Well, we could say that the terror and manhunt in Boston concern us in the State of Israel as well. What can we learn from it, if we want to learn anything? That with the Americans there are no shortcuts. When they want to achieve something, to create facts on the ground, they have no problem recruiting thousands and tens of thousands of people for the mission, bringing life in a city of millions to a halt, raising hell. Even God won't stand in their way when it comes to a matter that seems important to them.

Quote: “We have just been through the week of Boston and I have deep feelings for what happens when you have violence, when something that happens when you lose people that are near and dear to you”, John Kerry provocatively comparing the victims of the flotilla incident to those of the Boston bombing.

Number: 5.3, the surprising percent increase in the value of the Bloomberg index of the top 10 Defense stocks since March 1st.  

 

Israel

Headline: Report: Jordan opens up skies for Israel Drones to Syria

To Read: IDF chief Benny Gantz reminds Aluf Benn of 'Mad Men':

Gantz is the kind of figure who inspires nostalgia for the Israel of the Mad Men era: a secular, unified nation that was dedicated to achieving its mission and which saw the IDF as a sacrosanct organization. His conservative, cautious nature is what brought him to the apex of the IDF pyramid, and his record since assuming the post of chief of staff more than two years ago has proven those expectations correct.

Quote:  “Whenever I try to convince them to learn the language, it only gets them angry. I explained to them how important it is to know the language of our neighbors, but they insist on correcting me. ‘Enemies,’ they say, ‘not neighbors’”, an Arabic teacher from Haifa lamenting the fact that young Israeli students aren't interested in learning Arabic.

Number: 6,000, the number of Israeli employees of British company G4s which has decided to partially divest from Israel.

 

The Middle East

Headline: Syrian activist group: Record number of dead bodies found

To Read: Ali Hashem tries to understand why the Hizbollah has taken a risk and entered the Syrian conflict-

When the Sayyida Zaynab neighborhood was attacked, religious Shiites from around the world asked both Hezbollah and Iran to intervene. Hundreds of Iraqi Shiites rushed to Syria to defend the shrine. Even clerics who opposed Hezbollah urged them to do something to avoid seeing the sacred Shiite site destroyed, keeping in mind the famous attack on Iraq's Sameraa city that saw a shrine of two of Shiite imams turned into rubble. “Hezbollah wasn't waiting for anyone to urge them to act. They knew what to do, and the decision was made to defend the shrine, whatever the cost,” says our source, adding, “Hezbollah is not like any other organization. When the Shura council agrees on a decision, everyone will have to bow to it. Even if there were some who had objections, whenever the decision is made they will defend it.”

Quote: “President Abbas is hoping to convince Erdogan to cancel the visit or delay it until the Palestinians achieve national unity”, a Palestinian source talking about the apparently futile PA attempts to ask Turkish PM Erdogan to postpone his trip to Gaza.

Number: 60, the percent increase in the Iranian prices of staples such as cooking oil, chicken and red meat in recent days.

 

The Jewish World

Headline: Hungarians protest anti-Semitism in rally ahead of WJC

To Read: A fascinating interview with 91 year old Polish Statesman, Nazi-resistance veteran and long time friend of the Jewish people, Władysław Bartoszewski-

Let me just say that I am by no means a philo-Semite. In my opinion one cannot be a philo-Semite, because one can like dogs of a certain pedigree or birds of a certain species, but one cannot adopt the same attitude to people. One can be either a humanist or an anti-Semite, but not a philo-Semite. I’m interested in what people are like, I’m interested in justice, I’m interested in whether the dignity of people is being respected, and whether they respect that of others. When some events occur in the State of Israel that I dislike, it affects me more than if it were taking place in Albania or even in France, because I care about the state of Israel. If a Polish Jew is a bad politician I am highly irritated. I would prefer a bad Polish-French, or Polish-Dutch, not a Polish Jew. Just to make sure that there isn’t the shadow of a doubt, I want to stress that ethnicity or roots have nothing to do with the evaluation of the person. It seems to me that after the 20th century we owe this to the victims of World War II.

Quote: “I became very concerned that the Holocaust became more or less the beginning and end of Jewish history. I felt that being victims was too much a part of Jewish life”, Polish born philanthropist Tad Taube talking about the importance of the newly opened Jewish Museum in Warsaw.

Number: 500, the number of Jewish markings found in Portugal, remnants of 16th century Jewish converts.

April 22, 2013 Read More »

Managing Jewish Built Heritage Conference in Krakow — Opening will be live-streamed

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I've spent much of the past five or six months working on the organization of an international conference called ” target=”_blank”>Bratislava Statement, including best practices recommendations.

The conference takes place April 23-25.

The opening session April 23 will take place in the historic Tempel Synagogue, whose restoration, spearheaded by the World Monuments Fund and initiatied in the early 1990s, was one of the first major post-communist Jewish heritage restorations in Poland.

The session — at 2 p.m. CET — will be live streamed on internet. Keynote speaker will be ” target=”_blank”> www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu web site, or right here: