Fasting time for Orthodox Christians is considered the time of working on themselves, both in the spiritual and in the physical sense. Refusal of entertainment, empty talk, forgiveness of past insults, observance of religious rituals are an integral part of fasting. You can find an example of a lean menu in this article.
The rules of nutrition during fasting
Before deciding to hold a post, you should think about your readiness for limitations. Pregnant women, retirees, people with stomach problems, it is better to limit themselves to observance of spiritual fasting. The main thing in this process is to be honest with yourself and calculate your strength. An empty stomach should not distract from eating spiritual food.
During fasting, the consumption of meat, dairy and seafood is limited. It is sometimes allowed to eat fish. It all depends on the severity of the post you decide to observe.
The most stringent option is to completely refuse food for the whole day. It is suitable only for completely healthy people who are not exposed to physical activity.
In the Orthodox calendar there are fasting days in which the use of hot and oily food is prohibited. Residents of northern cities should think several times before deciding on such an experiment.
The easiest option for holding a post is well suited for beginners in this matter. It consists in restricting meat, fish, dairy products, including eggs. For the rest, you can not deny yourself when compiling a lean menu. There are a lot of delicious recipes, meat is replaced with beans or soy products, nori leaves are suitable for fish, and a banana will replace eggs.
Post preparation
A week before fasting, it is customary to abandon meat dishes. This will allow you to get a little used to the new way of eating and not drive the body into a stressful state. At this time, believers celebrate Shrovetide, bake pancakes, using fish, eggs, cottage cheese, honey, jam as the filling.
A strict lean menu should be maintained on the last day of the Pancake week. On this day, it is customary to ask for forgiveness from loved ones and release insults.
Quit post
During fasting, the stomach adapts to a new rhythm, so new foods can harm it. That is why it is necessary to return to the usual food gradually, expanding the lean menu. Delicious meat dishes, sweets, pastries and alcohol should be consumed in small quantities.
On the first day of Easter, you should not load the stomach with heavy food. It is better to start by adding dairy products to the diet, then fish and meat.
Bean Salad
A simple, hearty and uncomplicated salad with beans, chickpeas and vegetables can enter the lean menu for each day of fasting . Before cooking, soak the beans in water overnight.
Ingredients:
- a glass of beans;
- a glass of chickpea;
- three hundred grams of green beans;
- greens;
- two cucumbers;
- cherry tomatoes;
- 45 ml of olive oil;
- spice;
- lime or lemon juice to taste.
The recipe for a vegetable salad with beans:
- Cook beans and turkish peas.
- Cut the green beans in half and cook for 20 minutes.
- Slice cucumbers and tomatoes.
- In a bowl combine legumes, vegetables, oil, lemon juice and herbs.
Vegetables, like beans, in this dish can be any. Do not be afraid to experiment.
Couscous with vegetables
Couscous is used to prepare many oriental dishes. It is famous for its mild and delicate taste. Like many cereals, it contains useful substances and minerals, positively affects the digestive system, for a long time leaves a feeling of fullness in the stomach. Couscous can often be found in lean menu recipes. During fasting, one should not forget about proper and balanced nutrition. Couscous with vegetables is suitable for both breakfast and lunch.
Necessary components:
- a glass of cereal;
- bulb;
- carrot;
- two bell peppers;
- three tomatoes;
- chili pepper;
- zucchini;
- glass of water;
- a couple of cloves of garlic;
- olive oil;
- greens;
- spice.
Stages of preparation:
- Wash vegetables well. Peel carrots, onions and zucchini.
- Cut carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic into small layers and heat them in a pan.
- Zucchini and pepper, cut larger, place with other vegetables.
- Grind the chili pepper as much as possible and put in the pan.
- After five minutes stirring add seasoning.
- Pour in water and place couscous.
- Simmer for five minutes with the lid closed.
To add freshness and juiciness to the dish, add greens and a drop of lemon juice.
Such a dish can be prepared using other vegetables you love. For example, eggplants, cabbage, beets are suitable for them. Couscous with vegetables will complement mushrooms.
Solyanka with mushrooms
Solyanka with mushrooms is an unusual, original and tasty dish. It will undoubtedly become a highlight in your fasting menu. In fasting, the hodgepodge can be consumed on any day, as it is taken in food both hot and cold.
This is a dish that can be prepared when guests are on the doorstep. It will surprise them with its aroma and pleasant sour taste.
The ingredients in this dish are interchangeable. You can use the vegetables that you find in your refrigerator. There is also a version of the dish using sauerkraut.
Essential ingredients for making hodgepodge:
- pickled cucumber;
- bulb;
- five potatoes;
- two hundred grams of mushrooms;
- one hundred grams of pickled mushrooms;
- a small spoon of tomato paste;
- 45 grams of vegetable oil;
- spices to taste.
Cooking:
- Pour water into a bowl and place on a stove.
- Wash, peel and chop the potatoes. Throw in boiling water.
- Make a roast. Grind carrots and onions. Fry in vegetable oil.
- In another bowl, fry the mushrooms.
- Ready mushrooms to combine with frying.
- Put the pickled cucumber, sliced in small pieces, into the pan.
- Stir for a couple of minutes, add the pickled mushrooms.
- Keep roasting on the fire for another minute and put in a pot of cooked potatoes.
- Add seasoning, bay leaf, chopped dill or parsley.
- Cook a couple of minutes on and off.
In a bowl on top of the soup put a slice of lemon, it can be replaced with olives or capers.
Peppers stuffed with vegetables and couscous
Stuffed peppers are usually prepared using minced meat. In this embodiment, the meat is replaced by couscous and vegetables. Such a dish can be safely included in your lean menu for every day. Instead of this cereal, you can use rice or buckwheat.
The components of the recipe:
- bell pepper (about 7 pieces);
- 30 grams of couscous;
- 30 grams of pumpkin;
- half a red onion;
- half a small spoonful of soy sauce;
- 300 ml of filtered water;
- some olive oil;
- sprig of cilantro;
- a sprig of parsley;
- clove of garlic;
- spices to taste.
Stages of preparation:
- One hundred milliliters of water is heated in a container, and when it begins to boil, throw cereal into it.
- Close the container with a lid. Five minutes later, couscous is ready.
- Peel the pumpkin, chop the pulp and mix with the finished cereal.
- Finely chop the onion and fry it in a well-heated pan. After readiness, put in a bowl with pumpkin and couscous.
- Add chopped parsley and cilantro, spices. Mix well. The filling is ready.
- Wash pepper, core. Fill with the resulting filling.
- Pour the remaining 200 ml of clean water into the dishes. Put pepper in it evenly.
- Stew the dish under a closed lid.
After 20 minutes, the pepper is ready to eat.
Lentil Curry
There are a large number of lentil recipes with the addition of lentils. This type of bean is a storehouse of vitamins, beneficial minerals and substances. Eating lentils favorably affects the digestive and cardiac systems.
Before cooking, lentils must be soaked in water overnight.
Necessary components for curry:
- 220 g bean;
- 200 g of boiled rice;
- bulb;
- 460 g of tomato paste;
- 150 ml of coconut milk;
- a pair of garlic cloves;
- a large spoon of olive oil;
- one large spoon of curry spices;
- a small spoon of garam masala;
- a small spoon of turmeric and ginger.
Stages of preparation:
- Cook the beans.
- Heat oil in a hot pan, add chopped onion and garlic. Fry until golden brown.
- To them put pasta, milk and spices. Cook for about six minutes.
- Put the beans, mix. After 20 minutes, your dish will be ready.
Serve curry with rice.
Vegetable cabbage rolls
It is hard to believe that cabbage rolls can be lean. The menu during the post can be replenished with this dish made from mushrooms and rice.
Ingredients for vegetable cabbage rolls:
- a glass of filtered water;
- cabbage;
- half a glass of rice;
- 300 grams of fresh champignons;
- carrot;
- Tomato paste to taste.
Cooking:
- Cook rice so that it is half ready.
- Wash the cabbage, divide it into leaves. Put them in boiling water and cook for a little less than a minute.
- Place hot sheets under cold water to cool.
- Grind carrots and mushrooms, mix. Combine the resulting mass with rice.
- Distribute the filling on the leaves. Gently wrap. If the sheet opens, fasten it with a toothpick.
- Pour water and tomato paste into the cooking utensils. Put stuffed cabbage.
- Simmer for 20 minutes over medium heat.
This dish can be decorated with greens.
Buckwheat cutlets
Lenten recipes are full of options for cooking buckwheat cutlets. You can use ordinary cereals, but if you saw green buckwheat on the shelves in the store, then opt for it. This kind of buckwheat is a more natural product, and during cooking it becomes more sticky than ordinary cereals.
For buckwheat cutlets you will need products:
- 300 grams of cereal;
- bulb;
- 12 grams of garlic;
- greens to taste;
- spices to taste.
Recipe:
- Place the boiled porridge in a blender and beat until pasta. Put in the dishes.
- Finely chop the greens, onions and garlic. Combine with buckwheat mass. Mix.
- Form circles. If the cutlets break up, then you need to add the breadcrumbs.
- Fry in a hot pan.
If you want to make cutlets easier and dietier, then bake in the oven until golden brown.
The dish can be supplemented with vegetable salad or boiled potatoes.
Pancakes on the water
Pancakes are one of the favorite treats for both children and adults. They can act as a main course and as a dessert.
Filling pancakes with zucchini caviar or hummus, you will create a hearty lunch dish that goes with the menu of the lean table. Filled with jam, jam or honey, pancakes become a delicious dessert.
For cooking lean pancakes we need:
- glass of water;
- a glass of sifted flour;
- 100 grams of sugar;
- 50 ml of vegetable oil;
- 5 grams of soda;
- 2 grams of vanillin.
Recipe:
- Combine the flour gradually with water. Stir frequently to prevent lumps from forming. You can use a blender.
- Add sugar and vanillin to the flour mixture. If you make unsweetened pancakes, then do not add sugar.
- Add oil and lastly soda. Stir until bubbles appear.
- Pour the resulting mass onto a hot pan. To prevent pancakes from breaking up, take more dough.
- Fry on both sides.
The dish is designed for eight people.
Blackcurrant Cupcakes
Blackcurrant can be replaced with any other berries. This recipe is designed for twelve cupcakes. By adding this recipe to your lean menu, you will delight yourself and your loved ones with a delicious dessert.
For cupcakes we need:
- a glass of berries;
- a glass of wheat flour;
- a glass of oatmeal flakes;
- a tablespoon of flax flour;
- half a glass of sugar;
- a tablespoon of baking powder;
- 250 ml of soy milk;
- three tablespoons of applesauce;
- three tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Stages of preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- In a bowl, mix milk, mashed potatoes and butter.
- In another bowl, combine the cereal, both flour, sugar and baking powder.
- Mix the contents of the first bowl with the contents of the second.
- Arrange the resulting mass into molds.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
Ready-made pastries acquire a golden brownish tint.
Berry smoothie
The berry smoothie will be a great addition to the lean menu. Instead of berries, kiwi, apple or other fruits are also suitable. Since in the winter season it is difficult to find fresh berries, you can use frozen.
Necessary components:
- a glass of cherry juice;
- 60 grams of ripe banana;
- 100 grams of frozen strawberries;
- 100 grams of frozen cherries.
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and beat well. The drink can be consumed both warm and cold, adding a little ice.