Great Lent 2021 and Daily Nutrition Calendar for Laymen

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Lent 2021 is a special period for all Orthodox Christians. At this time, you need to eat according to special rules, so a daily meal calendar for laymen will help you to make the right menu.

The rules of Great Lent

In 2021, Lent will last from March 15 to May 1. This is the longest and strictest fast, so every believer should know the following:

1. On the days of fasting, you will have to completely abandon animal products.
2. The first and last weeks are the most stringent.
3. The harshest days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. These are days of dry eating, when it is allowed to eat only cold dishes without vegetable oil.
4. On weekends, you can cook hot food with the addition of vegetable oil.
5. On special days, you can cook fish and drink red wine, but the drink must be natural.

In order to correctly compose a menu for 40 days every day, it is also important for laymen to know which foods are not subject to the ban in Lent 2021:

• vegetables - they can be baked, stewed, boiled or eaten raw;
• fruits - fresh and dried;
• all types of cereals (the main thing is not to cook porridge in milk, only in water);
• mushrooms, beans, nuts, honey;
• black bread and crispbreads for diet food.

The daily food calendar for the laity includes days of relaxation for Lent. These are Orthodox holidays - Annunciation (April 7) and Palm Sunday (April 25). On such days, you can afford to fish. On Lazarev Saturday (April 24), fish caviar is allowed.

Menu for Lent

During this period, it is important not only to give up many products, but also to try not to satiate your womb. Therefore, it is better to schedule meals every day for 40 days in accordance with the church charter. It is also permissible for laymen to abandon dry-eating days and make a menu of simple lean dishes.

First meal

There are quite a lot of recipes for the first lean dishes, the main thing is to cook soups in water or vegetable broth. We offer several options that can be included in the lean menu.

Lentil soup

• 150 g red lentils;
• 1 onion;
• 1 carrot;
• 2-3 cloves of garlic;
• 1 tomato;
• 1-2 potato tubers;
• 0.5 tsp turmeric;
• 0.5 tsp black pepper;
• 2 bay leaves;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• 1 liter of water (broth);
• salt to taste.

Preparation:

• Chop the onion into small cubes, chop the garlic.
• Cut carrots and tomatoes into cubes.
• Saute the onion in a frying pan with heated oil for two minutes, then add the garlic, and after a minute the carrots, fry for another 2 minutes.

Now we send the tomatoes into the pan, fry for 5 minutes, then add salt, pepper and turmeric, keep on fire for another 2 minutes

• Put the red lentils in a saucepan with cold water and after boiling, put the potatoes cut into small cubes. Cook for 15 minutes.
• Then we send the vegetable frying, put the bay leaf and a little salt.

• Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
• Before serving, let the soup brew for 10-15 minutes, then pour into plates and serve with fresh herbs.

Tomato Bean Soup

• 4 large tomatoes;
• 400 g beans (canned);
• 2 onions;
• 1 carrot;
• 400 g tomato puree;
• 50 ml of vegetable oil;
• head of garlic;
• greens, bay leaf;
• spices and herbs.

Preparation:

• Peel the tomatoes off. To do this, we make cross-shaped cuts on the fruits, fill them with boiling water and set them aside for now.
• At this time, grate the carrots, chop the onion into small cubes and chop the garlic.
• Drain the hot water from the tomatoes, fill them with cold and after a few seconds remove the skin. Cut out the stalks of peeled fruits and cut into small cubes.
• Grind any greens of your choice (cilantro is best for this recipe).

• Pour oil into a saucepan and, as soon as it warms up well, pour onions and fry until half cooked.
• Then add the carrots and continue to fry the vegetables until light golden brown.
• Add the garlic, mix well and simmer for another minute.
• Then put the tomato puree and bring the frying to a boil, then send fresh tomatoes to the stewpan.

• Mix vegetables well, fill with boiling water.
• Add the beans along with the broth, bring to a boil and cook under the lid for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, add bay leaf, salt and any spices to taste to the soup. For example, dried basil, Provencal herbs, suneli hops, black pepper, smoked and sweet paprika. Cook the soup for 5 minutes, then add fresh herbs and remove the finished dish from heat.

Lean cabbage soup with mushrooms

Ingredients:

• sauerkraut;
• dried mushrooms;
• potato;
• onion;
• carrot;
• tomatoes;
• salted cucumbers;
• garlic;
• tomato paste;
• greens, dill seeds;
• chilli;
• vegetable oil;
• adjika;
• salt and black pepper.

Preparation:

Pour boiling water over the dried mushrooms and leave for 10 minutes. After the broth is poured into a saucepan, chop the mushrooms and also transfer them to a common container. We put on fire

• We send the sauerkraut to the pan, add a little oil and mushroom broth, simmer for 30-40 minutes. Add dill seeds if desired.
• Chop the onion into small cubes, grate the carrots, chop the pickles with thin strips. Peel off the peel from the tomatoes and cut into arbitrary pieces.
• We send one potato tuber whole to the mushrooms, cut the rest into small cubes.

Finely chop the garlic and chili

• Pour the onion into a separate frying pan with heated oil, fry until golden. In the process, salt the vegetable a little.
• Then we send the carrots to the onion, fry for 2 minutes.
• Then put the cucumbers and tomatoes in the pan. And at this stage we also put tomato paste and adjika. Mix everything and simmer for 5-7 minutes. If there is not enough liquid, then you can add mushroom broth or pickle from sauerkraut.

• We take out the boiled potatoes from the pan, crush them to a puree consistency and return to the pan along with the raw potatoes.
• Next, we send cabbage and vegetable dressing, mix and taste for salt.

Cook the cabbage soup until the potatoes are ready, add garlic and chili at the end. Let the dish brew a little before serving. You can also add fresh herbs if desired.

Lenten salads

Salads are a good opportunity for lay people to make the Lenten menu varied every day and at the same time prepare healthy dishes for Lent 2021. After all, if you look at the food calendar, then pickles, vegetables, cereals and beans are not banned.

Soy asparagus salad

Ingredients:

• soy asparagus;
• 0.5 tsp coriander;
• 2 stalks of celery;
• 1 carrot;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• hot pepper;
• vegetable oil;
• 3 tsp soy sauce;
• 2 tsp sweet chinese sauce;
• 2 tsp rice vinegar;
• salt to taste.

Preparation:

• Pre-soak the asparagus in warm water for 6 hours.
• Grind coriander seeds in a mortar.
• Cut the peeled celery stalks and carrots into thin strips, put them in a bowl and sprinkle a little with salt.

• Finely chop the garlic, add to the coriander, add a little hot pepper and oil. Stir and heat in the microwave for a minute.
• Cut the asparagus into small pieces.
• Finely chop the cilantro greens.

Put asparagus and herbs with carrots and celery, pour in soy sauce, rice vinegar, sweet Chinese sauce, and oil with spices. Mix everything, let the salad brew a little.

Village cellar

Ingredients:

• 1 cup beans
• 1 onion;
• 300 g potatoes;
• 500 g of pickled honey mushrooms;
• dill, parsley;
• salt, sugar;
• vegetable oil.

Preparation:

1. Pre-soak the beans overnight, then fill the beans with clean water and cook for 40-50 minutes. Add salt 5 minutes before cooking.
2. Chop the onion in half rings, add a little salt and sugar to the vegetable, knead it with your hands.
3. Cut the boiled potatoes into small cubes.
4. We send potatoes, onions, pickled mushrooms and greens to a salad bowl with ready-made and cooled beans. Salt and season the salad with any vegetable oil.

Barley salad

Ingredients:

• 1 glass of pearl barley;
• 1 onion;
• 1 bell pepper;
• 3 pickled cucumbers;
• 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• salt and pepper to taste;
• garlic and herbs to taste.

Preparation:

Soak the pearl barley overnight, then cook until tender for about 40-50 minutes

• Chop the onion into small cubes.
• Grind the pickled cucumbers with a coarse grater.

Lightly fry the onion in a pan with vegetable oil, then add bell peppers, spices to it and simmer for 2-3 minutes

After that, we spread the cucumbers to the vegetables, pour in a little broth from the barley, simmer for another 2-3 minutes

We send vegetables, herbs and garlic to taste to a salad bowl with ready-made pearl barley, a little salt. Mix everything, and a hearty salad is ready.

Lenten hot dishes

Despite the fact that meat products are banned during fasting, even the simplest ingredients can be used to prepare hearty hot meals. We offer several recipes that can be included in the menu for Lent, observing the daily food calendar for the laity.

Rice with vegetables

Ingredients:

• 600 g of rice;
• 200 g onions;
• 200 g carrots;
• 200 g of mushrooms;
• 200 g red sweet pepper;
• 200 g corn (canned);
• 1 liter of vegetable broth (water);
• 100 ml of vegetable oil;
• 1 tsp salt.

Preparation:

• Pour oil into a deep saucepan and give it time to heat up strongly. Pre-cut all vegetables and mushrooms into small cubes.
• We begin to fry the onions, and as soon as they are browned, add the carrots, fry until they are golden.
• Then add mushrooms, bell peppers, and after 2-3 minutes - sweet corn.

• Now add the well-washed rice, stir and let the oil fully absorb.
• Dissolve salt in broth or water and pour into a saucepan, stir and let it boil.

Cover the saucepan with a lid, reduce the heat and cook until the rice is fully cooked

Lean cabbage rolls with millet

Ingredients:

• Chinese cabbage;
• 1 glass of millet;
• 2 carrots;
• 1 onion;
• 2-3 cloves of garlic;
• 3-4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
• 70 ml tomato paste;
• 1 tsp paprika;
• 1 tsp curry;
• 1 bunch of greens;
• salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:

We wash the millet well, pour it into a saucepan, pour in 2 cups of boiling water and 1 tbsp. l. oils. Bring to a boil, after turning off the fire, cover the pan with a towel and let the cereal brew

• At this time, cut the onion into small cubes, grate the carrots on a grater.
• Simmer vegetables until soft, and at the end add finely chopped garlic, salt, paprika and curry.

We shift vegetables to the swollen millet and mix

For the sauce until slightly brown, fry the flour, then pour in the water, put in the tomato paste and any spices you wish

• We disassemble the Chinese cabbage into sheets, beat off the hard part with a hammer.
• Put the filling on each leaf, wrap it, slightly tucking the edges.

We put stuffed cabbage rolls tightly in a baking dish, having previously greased it with oil. Fill with sauce and put in the oven for 30-40 minutes (temperature 180 ° C).

Potato casserole with mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 800 g potatoes;
• 400 g of champignons;
• 1-2 onions;
• 2 tbsp. l. starch;
• dill, salt, pepper;
• vegetable oil.

Preparation:

• We send finely chopped onion to a pan with vegetable oil and fry it until transparent.
• Then add mushrooms cut into small cubes to the onion vegetable, fry for 5-7 minutes.

• We rub the peeled potatoes on a grater, pour boiling water, after 5 minutes we put them in a colander and let all the liquid drain.
• Add starch, salt, pepper and herbs to the potatoes if desired, mix.

• Cover the form with parchment, grease with oil and spread a layer of potatoes on the bottom.
• Then we spread half of the mushrooms, again potatoes, the second half of the mushrooms and again potatoes on top.
• Lubricate with vegetable oil.

We send the casserole to an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 40-50 minutes. Give the finished dish a little time to cool down, sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve.

Great Lent 2021 is a time of repentance and correction of one's mistakes, so every Orthodox Christian should not only follow the daily food calendar for the laity. Many clergy urge to refrain from informational food, which has recently brought little benefit to the soul.