During the year, Orthodox believers mustobserve four multi-day fasts, among which the most important and strict is Lent. In 2012, it will begin on February 27 and will last until Easter. During Lent, the diet of believers should only include Lenten food. Therefore, people who want to observe this tradition for the first time want to know what foods can be consumed during Lent and what dishes can be prepared.
Food in Lent
During fasting, food should not be of animal origin.origin. Therefore, you cannot eat meat, fish, eggs, butter, dairy and fermented milk products. Only on Palm Sunday and the Annunciation is it allowed to eat fish and seafood. In addition, the Lenten menu during Lent excludes white bread, pastries, sweets and mayonnaise from the diet. In fact, during this period it is not advisable to eat any treats, even those made on a plant basis. There is a ban on alcohol and smoking. On days such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you cannot add vegetable oil to food. So, what should you eat when you are fasting? It is safe to say that the basis of such a menu should be products of plant origin. These are fruits, dried fruits, vegetables, root vegetables and legumes. Also on these days you can eat all kinds of pickles, nuts, mushrooms and cereals. Of the flour products, black and gray bread, crackers and pretzels are allowed. Coffee lovers should abstain from this drink, the best drinks are tea, fruit drinks, herbal infusions and kissels. At first glance, it may seem that Lent imposes quite large restrictions on food intake, but in fact, the range of dishes that can be consumed is very wide. The Lenten menu, the recipes of which will be recommended in this article, will help you properly organize your diet during Lent. During this period, food, of course, should be simple, but there is no ban on its diversity!
What and how to cook in the post?
So that eating during Lent doesn’t look like something specialirritating diet, but led to humility, peace and awareness of life, we offer recipes for Lenten dishes based on ancient Russian traditions with the addition of elements of modern culinary art. The products used for them are tasty and easy to prepare. Therefore, fast with pleasure! To make your menu varied during Lent, we recommend using the following tips:
- when preparing salads combine fresh vegetables with various kinds of billets - salted, pickled, frozen, as well as with rice or other cereal;
- porridge is cooked only on water and without oil. And to improve the taste, the finished porridge can be poured with jelly, put frozen berries, dried fruits, honey, nuts. Cook porridge from different groats;
- when preparing lean soups, it is important to properly cook vegetables: they must all be ready at the same time;
- The basis of such a menu are vegetables. They can be combined with cereals and flour products. Do not be afraid to experiment, for example: very tasty pancakes made from unleavened dough stuffed with fried onions and carrots;
- do not forget about baking, just when kneadingtest exclude eggs, replace milk with water, butter - margarine or vegetable oil. So you can cook any dough - fresh yeast, sand.
Lenten dishes do not require expensive products, they are tasty and easy to prepare. Here, try:
Vinaigrette with seaweed
This is not only a favorite snack, it can be used as a side dish and as a separate dish, which is simply irreplaceable in the menu of a person observing the fast. Ingredients:
- canned sea kale - 100 g,
- sauerkraut - 100 g,
- carrots - 1 pc.,
- potatoes - 5 pcs.,
- beet - 1 pc.,
- pickled cucumbers - 1 pc.,
- onion-turnip - 1 pc.,
- canned green peas,
- vegetable oil, salt - to taste.
Preparation:Boil carrots, potatoes and beets, cool and cut into cubes. Chop seaweed and sauerkraut and add to the vegetables. Add green peas and chopped onions. Salt everything, add vegetable oil and mix.
Simple vegetable salad
This salad is very easy to prepare, but its taste is pleasantly surprising. Ingredients:
- Pickled cucumbers - 1 pc.,
- fresh tomatoes - 1 pc.,
- red onions - 1 pc.,
- greens - 1 bunch.
For filling:
- mustard - 0.5 teaspoon,
- vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons,
- salt, black and red ground pepper - to taste.
Preparation: Everything is very simple: chop all the listed ingredients, mix and season.
Tomato and buckwheat salad
The successful combination of tomatoes and buckwheat makes this salad tasty and filling. Ingredients:
- ready buckwheat porridge - 4 tablespoons (50-60 g),
- tomatoes - 1 pc. (150-100 g),
- Peking cabbage - 30 g.
For filling:
- vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons,
- vinegar 3% - 1 teaspoon,
- salt - 1/5 teaspoon.
Preparation:Prepare crumbly buckwheat porridge. Cool it to the desired temperature. Tear the Chinese cabbage with your hands. Cut the tomatoes into cubes. Mix the cabbage, tomatoes and boiled buckwheat. If desired, you can add finely chopped onions and sweet pepper. Pour in the dressing, add salt to taste.
Borsch with prunes
This borscht is prepared without meat, but it is filling and tasty. Ingredients:
- water 3 liters,
- large beet - 1 pc.,
- Peking cabbage - 100 g,
- potatoes - 4 pcs.,
- carrots - 1 pc.,
- onion-turnip - 1 pc.,
- prunes - 100 g,
- tomato paste - 1 teaspoon
- lemon - ½ pcs.,
- garlic - 1 clove,
- salt - to taste,
- dried basil - to taste,
- greens - to taste,
- bay leaf - 1 leaflet.
Note:If you don't like Chinese cabbage, you can use white cabbage. Preparation: Grate the beets on a coarse grater. Put in a frying pan, add lemon juice, 3 tablespoons of water and tomato paste. Simmer all this for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, shred the cabbage, cut the potatoes into cubes, grate the carrots and chop the onion. Pour water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Put the cabbage, potatoes, carrots and onions in there. Add bay leaf and salt. Cook all this for 15 minutes. After washing, cut the prunes. Put the prunes, stewed beets and basil into the boiling vegetables. Cook for another 15 minutes. The borscht is ready. Add chopped garlic and herbs to it. Let the borscht brew for 10 minutes. Serve with sour cream.
Pea soup
This soup is Lenten. But despite this, those who taste it will be satisfied, because it is tasty and filling. Ingredients:
- peas - 100 g,
- potatoes - 3 pcs.,
- carrots - 1 pc.,
- onion-turnip - 1 pc.,
- tomato sauce - 1 tablespoon,
- pepper, bay leaves, salt,
- coriander, garlic - to taste.
Preparation:Rinse the soaked peas and cook until half-ready. Then add the potatoes. Fry the carrots, onions, add chopped garlic. Put in the tomato sauce and seasonings. Mix everything well, add salt. Transfer the fried vegetables to the soup, stir. Salt the soup and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with croutons.
Fish soup with seafood
This fish and seafood soup according to an Italian recipe is very unusual and delicious. On those days of fasting when it is allowed to eat fish, it is perfect for lunch. Ingredients:
- water - 1 liter,
- fish - 500 grams,
- sea cocktail - 500 grams,
- tomatoes - 1 pc.,
- tomato paste - 1 tablespoon,
- stalk of celery - 1 pc.,
- lemon - 1 pc.,
- garlic - 3 cloves,
- salt - to taste,
- parsley - a bunch,
- Dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, etc.).
Preparation: Cook the fish broth.Finely chop the garlic and celery and fry. Add the seafood cocktail and simmer for another five minutes. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and peel them, make a puree out of them, and put it in the frying pan with the tomato paste. Simmer it all for another 5 minutes. Remove the fish from the broth, remove the bones and cut into small pieces. Add the frying and fish to the boiling broth. Add salt. Cook for 10 minutes. The soup is ready, add lemon juice and herbs.
Mushroom pilaf
Lenten menu, recipes for which are hereare given, will help you to eat varied not only during Lent, but also in the following days. For example, this mushroom pilaf. Try to cook it, you will definitely like it! Ingredients:
- frozen forest mushrooms - 300 g (can be replaced with champignons),
- long grain rice - 1 cup,
- carrots - 1 pc.,
- onion-turnip - 1 pc.,
- garlic - 4 cloves,
- vegetable oil, salt,
- barberry, anise or seasoning for pilaf.
Preparation:Chop the onion coarsely and the carrots into strips. Cover the frozen mushrooms with water and leave for an hour. Then remove them from the water, rinse and chop. Pour vegetable oil into a thick-bottomed saucepan, heat it up and fry the onion in it for 5 minutes, add the carrots and fry for another 5 minutes. Put the mushrooms in the saucepan with the vegetables, cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add salt and seasonings. Place the washed rice in an even layer on the mushrooms and vegetables, without stirring. Next, pour in hot water so that it is 1 centimeter higher than the rice. Increase the heat, bring to a boil, cover tightly with a lid. Reduce the heat and cook until all the water has evaporated. Add the peeled garlic cloves. Cook for another 10 minutes on low heat without removing the lid. Next, turn off the heat, stir the pilaf, but leave it to stand for another 15 minutes under a tightly closed lid.
Cabbage rolls with vegetables and rice
Cabbage rolls with vegetables and rice will help to diversify the menu. They are no worse than meat ones, just as tasty and appetizing. Ingredients:
- cabbage leaves - 8 pcs.,
- carrots - 4 pcs.,
- onion-turnip - 1 pc.,
- vegetable oil - 30 grams,
- tomatoes in their own juice,
- salt, cloves, black pepper.
Preparation:Place the cabbage leaves in boiling salted water and cook for 5 minutes. Then remove them with a slotted spoon and pour cold water over them. Lightly beat off the dense stalks. Boil the rice until half-ready, mix with the vegetables, previously stewed in vegetable oil, add salt. Place the prepared mince in the middle of the cabbage leaf, roll it into a tube, bending it at the sides. Place in a saucepan, pour in the tomato, add seasonings to taste and bring to a boil. Then place in the oven and simmer over low heat until done.
Vegetables in the bank
A very tasty Lenten dish! It is beautiful, aromatic, and there is nothing to say about its benefits. Vegetables stewed in their own juice – what could be better! Ingredients for a 1.5-liter jar:
- eggplant - 1 pc.,
- small zucchini - 1 pc.,
- tomatoes - 300 grams,
- onion-turnip - 1 pc.,
- vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons,
- salt, seasonings (hops-suneli).
Preparation: Peel and cut the eggplants.Dip the tomatoes in boiling water, peel and chop. Peel the zucchini, remove the seeds, cut into cubes. Chop the onion. Put all the vegetables in a bowl. Add vegetable oil, salt and seasonings. Mix. Transfer everything to a dry jar, lightly tamping. Close tightly with a lid or foil in 4 folds. Place the jar with vegetables on a tray and put it in a cold oven, which immediately turn on, setting the temperature to 110-130 degrees. When it boils, reduce the temperature to 160-180 degrees and simmer for 1 hour.
Lenten pancakes with mineral water
Pancakes made according to this recipe turn out beautiful, with small holes. Ingredients:
- mineral water with gas - 1 glass,
- flour - according to need,
- vegetable oil - 1 tablespoon,
- sugar - 1 teaspoon,
- salt - to taste.
Preparation:Mix mineral water with flour until it reaches the consistency of sour cream, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, salt and sugar, and mix. If necessary, dilute the dough with mineral water until it reaches the desired consistency for pancakes, but do not make it too runny. Grease a hot frying pan with vegetable oil and bake. You can eat pancakes with honey, salted saffron milk caps, or stuff them with vegetable filling.
Onion plant
This pie is tastier when hot, but you can eat it cold too. It is delicious, mouth-watering, with a golden crust! Ingredients:
- flour - 400 grams,
- yeast - 30 g,
- sugar - 1 teaspoon,
- onion-turnip - 400 g,
- vegetable oil - 1 tablespoon,
- salt - to taste
Preparation:Knead the lean dough from flour, warm water and yeast, adding salt and sugar. Let it rise twice. After the second time, roll it out into several thin flat cakes. Chop the onion and fry it until golden brown in vegetable oil. Then put a thin flat cake of dough on the bottom of the greased form, cover it with fried onion, then another flat cake, and onion on it. Make several layers like this. The top layer should be made of dough. Connect the edges nicely. Bake the onion pie in a well-heated oven. After taking out the finished pie, grease it with vegetable oil, cover with a cloth, and let it stand for a few minutes.
Monastery porridge
This Lenten porridge made from different grains is tasty, original and very healthy. Ingredients:
- different groats - in equal proportions,
- champignons - 400 g,
- onion-turnip - 3 pcs.,
- carrots - 1 pc.,
- vegetable oil - for roasting,
- salt, seasoning - to taste.
Preparation:Pre-cook and rinse the pearl barley. Bring the millet to a boil and drain the water. Rinse the buckwheat and rice. Fry the mushrooms with onions and grated carrots. Put the mixture in a saucepan in layers: a layer of cereal, a layer of vegetables, a layer of another cereal - a layer of vegetables, etc. Sprinkle with seasonings, add salt, pour in water to a level where the water is slightly higher than the top layer. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until done.
The porridge from the "Hercules"
This oatmeal porridge is suitable for fasting days and dietary nutrition. Ingredients:
- oat flakes - 1 tablespoon,
- boiling water - 100 ml,
- salt - to taste.
Preparation:Pour boiling water over the oatmeal, cover with a lid, add a little salt, and let it brew for 10 minutes. The porridge is ready. For flavor, you can add grated apple or dried fruit, or honey, nuts, etc.
Lenten food is a healthy diet
We hope that the Lenten menu, the recipes of whichrecommended above, will help you to properly observe Orthodox traditions during Lent. The dishes offered here can be easily prepared and will please your household. In addition, the recipes for Lenten dishes will be useful for people who monitor their health, have certain diseases, as well as for all adherents of proper and healthy nutrition. Enjoy your meal! We recommend reading:
