Fasting is a big event for the Christian world. After all, religious people believe that these days the physical body comes into harmony with the spiritual world, is cleansed of sinful deeds and thoughts, and draws near to God.
From the article you will learn about the four main Christian posts, about what food should be taken at this time, and which is better to refrain from. We will tell you what lean food is and give recipes for its preparation.
Four main Christian posts
The Christmas fast begins on November 28 and lasts forty days, including January 6. On all its days, except for odd weekdays and Saturdays, everyone is allowed to eat except certain foods, and vegetable oil and fish are allowed on weekends and even.
Lenten fasting food, beginning 49 days before Easter Sunday, consists mainly of vegetables and fish, except for the 7th, 4th and 1st week.
On the 58th day after Easter, the Peter the Great begins and ends on the Day of Peter and Paul. Vegetable oil and fish dishes are prohibited only on odd days of the week, except weekends.
The Assumption Lent lasts 14 days from August 14 to the 27th. Vegetable oil is consumed on weekends, and fish can only be eaten on the day of Apple Savior, August 19.
What can and cannot be in a post
In a post, as a rule, it is forbidden to eat:
- on strict days - dairy products, eggs and fish;
- poultry and animal meat.
It is allowed to eat:
- not bakery products ;
- soy and bean products with a high content of vegetable protein;
- cereals on the water;
- nuts, fruits, dried fruits;
- mushrooms;
- boiled, stewed, salted vegetables;
- vegetable oil and fish on permitted days.
On these days, considerable attention is given to cooking, because lean food, the recipes of which we will present in the article, must contain not only permitted products, but also be healthy, tasty and nutritious.
First lean dishes
Lenten menu must necessarily contain the first dishes, because eating dry food harms the digestive tract and causes heartburn and other gastrointestinal disorders. Not everyone knows, but the favorite dishes of many, hodgepodge and cabbage soup, can be prepared without meat and butter, and lean food will not lose its taste and aroma from this.
Solyanka
Soak 0.5 tablespoons of red beans a day before cooking, you need to cook it for one and a half to two hours in salted water. When the beans are ready, leave the broth for the hodgepodge, and put the beans separately in a deep plate. Chop 1 medium-sized onion into cubes. Peel 2 pickled cucumbers, cut into cubes. Fry the onion a little, add the cucumbers and continue to fry along with the onion. Throw vegetables into boiling bean broth and add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. Remove the olives from the jar, cut into circles and, when the potato is half ready, add to the pan along with bay leaf and two peas of allspice.
Cabbage soup
In 3 liters of boiling water add 6-7 pcs. diced potatoes, salt to taste. After 5-7 minutes add slaw (a small head of cabbage), 1 piece of sweet pepper, diced. While vegetables are boiling, fry a small carrot, onion and grated tomato in a pan. When the potatoes and cabbage are cooked, add dressing, bay leaf and 3 peas of black pepper to the pan. Serve with finely chopped parsley and grated garlic.
Second courses
Rice porridge with vegetables and mashed potatoes are delicious fasting foods in fasting, the recipes for these dishes are very simple.
Rice porridge with vegetables
Rinse a glass of rice several times until the water becomes clear. Cut bell pepper (1 pc.) Into strips, cut half a cabbage of cauliflower into slices and inflorescences, cut 1 small carrot into strips or thin slices. Pour 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil into a preheated pan and toss spices (caraway seeds / cumin and cloves, after 10 seconds - turmeric). Put vegetables: cabbage, carrots, peppers and fry a little. Then add rice and fry for about 3 minutes. and pour 2 cups of water.
Wait for boiling, cut the tomato into cubes, throw in a pan with rice and vegetables, pour a jar of green peas and put 1 bay leaf on top. Add pepper and salt to taste and simmer under the lid over low heat for 20 minutes. If the water has not evaporated during this time, cover again and cook until cooked. Sprinkle with chopped herbs on top.
Mashed potatoes
One and a half kg of potatoes peeled and boiled. Pour the potato broth into a jar. Finely chop the medium-sized onion head, fry in sunflower oil until golden. Potato potato, if the mashed potatoes are very thick, add potato broth. Season with onions and serve.
Lenten Salads
Lenten food in Lent suggests the predominance of vegetables in the diet, so vegetable salads will be very relevant in this period.
The vinaigrette
Wash and boil 2 pcs. carrots, 4 pcs. potatoes, 1 pc. beets. Cool, clean. Peel and dice the onion. Three pickled cucumbers and two fresh ones are also cut into cubes. Add a can of peas, after draining water from it. Greens, salt, pepper - to taste. Season the salad with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil.
Beetroot salad with nuts and dried fruits
Cook 1 beetroot. Pour boiling water over 100 g of raisins and / or prunes and set aside for 15-30 minutes, drain the water, rinse and dry. Peel and grate beets. Prune cut into slices. Chop 3-4 pieces of walnuts, chop. Add 1-2 grated cloves of garlic, raisins, prunes, nuts, pour 1-2 tbsp of vegetable oil, sprinkle with chopped dill.
Snacks
Snacks - this is the category of recipes that fits the menu for any feast. Appetizer recipes are chosen so that none of the guests will believe that we have lean food, because these dishes are very tasty.
Bulgarian pepper
Wash a kilogram of bell pepper, get rid of seeds, cut the stalks and bake in the oven until golden brown. Peel and cut into slices. In a separate bowl, mix 5 cloves of grated garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, a teaspoon of vinegar. Pour pepper in garlic sauce, put in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Herring cocktail
Grate 2 tsp horseradish, crush 2 tbsp. l cranberries or lingonberries and mix with low-fat mayonnaise. Cut into strips or thin slices 1 red apple and 3 pcs of pickled cucumbers. Peel 2 pcs. salted herring, take out the bones, cut into neat thin slices. Mix all the ingredients. Cover the bottom of the dish with lettuce, put the prepared herring mixture on top, decorate with greens.
Dessert
Desserts are the most delicious lean food, the recipes of which are so simple that cooking does not take much time and energy, and the result will please both adults and children.
Fruit ice
Clear 3 pcs. Kiwi, wash. Sort a glass of strawberries, wash, get rid of the tails. In an incomplete glass of water add 2 tbsp. l of sugar and 2 tsp of lemon juice. Mix. Grate the strawberries. Grind the kiwi in a blender.
Divide the sugar syrup into 2 parts: pour one half in kiwi puree and the other from strawberries. Fill half the fruit mash in small tins or disposable cups, insert an ice cream stick in each tin, put in the freezer for an hour. Get the molds and add the remaining mashed potatoes. You can combine kiwi and strawberries by making a striped recipe. And put to cool until completely freezing.
Baked apples
Cut medium-sized apples (5-6 pcs.) Into 2 parts, get rid of the core. Put in a baking dish in one layer, sprinkle with sugar on top (pour 1 tsp in the middle, if apples are sour - pour more). In the presence of almond or coconut flakes, use them by dividing 2 tbsp. l on all halves of apples. Put in the preheated oven for half an hour. Baked apples are lean food that can be consumed hot and cold.
Fruit salad with honey
If necessary, melt half a glass of honey by placing a jar of honey in hot water.
Wash and peel the fruit. Cut the middle of 1 large apple; 2 bananas, 4 tangerines, 1-2 kiwi and 1 pc. Peel persimmons from peel. Separate the grapes from the bunch, cut into two halves along with the plums, get rid of the seeds, peel 1 pomegranate by selecting the grains. Cut apples and bananas into small slices, sprinkling with lemon juice so that the fruits do not darken. Cut mandarin slices into pieces, kiwi also cut into small pieces. Mix the ingredients together, pour over honey, stir again and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
Bakery products
Many people mistakenly believe that baking is unhealthy, and it is not recommended to use it in fasting, because it contains eggs and milk. However, cooking lean food in the oven without eggs and milk is quite realistic.
Crazy cake
Mix half a glass of flour with a glass of sugar, 0.5 tbsp cocoa, a packet of vanilla sugar, a pinch of salt and nuts (to taste), extinguish soda with vinegar and add to dry ingredients, mix. Pour 150 g of vegetable oil into the mixture, mix thoroughly, pour a glass of water and knead until smooth.
Pour the dough into a greased dish and spread evenly. Put in the oven for half an hour. While the cake is being prepared, mix 3 tbsp cocoa, 3 tbsp sugar, ½ tbsp water, ½ tbsp. oils (since lean food is prepared without butter, then vegetable oil should also be added to the icing), and put in a water bath. Cook until the glaze thickens. After the cake has cooled, cover it with icing, cover and set aside for several hours.
Charlotte
Peel and chop six apples, sprinkle with lemon juice so that the apples do not darken, and sprinkle them with sugar.
A tablespoon of honey mixed with ½ tbsp. sugar, ¼ tsp of cinnamon, a packet of vanilla sugar and pour ½ tablespoon of boiling water. Stir until sugar crystals dissolve. Pour in ½ tbsp. vegetable oil while continuing to interfere. After mixing 300 g of flour with 2 tsp baking powder and a liquid mixture, remove the dough and pour onto a baking sheet. Put the apples in an even layer. Put the oven for 30-35 minutes.
Preparing lean food does not take too much time and requires minimal material costs, and this is another plus of observing Christian traditions.