The monastic kitchen is an ideal solution for those who are planning to fast. It separated into a separate branch back in the 16th century, the main emphasis was on plant foods. Meals in monasteries should consist of simple, but nutritious and healthy foods, and certainly contain the necessary vitamins. Lenten food can and should remain tasty; its preparation does not require much time and effort. Below are the best recipes for delicious monastic dishes that are easy to serve during Lent.
Recipes from monastery cuisine in Lent - the best soups step by step and with photos
For monasteries, liquid dishes are the basis of the menu. Such food helps provide the body with nutrients and required vitamins. Another advantage is easy digestibility without straining the stomach.
Monastic cabbage soup with rice
This is not just a very healthy, but also an incredibly tasty dish that is prepared in a few simple steps. With its help, you can brighten up your diet not only during fasting, but also on ordinary days.
To prepare cabbage soup we will need:
- 500 g sauerkraut;
- potatoes - 4 pcs.;
- 200 g champignons;
- carrots - 1 pc.;
- onions - 1 pc.;
- 70 g steamed rice;
- 70 g celery root;
- bell pepper - 1 pc.;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- 3 bay leaves;
- salt, peppercorns, cilantro and dill.
Then everything is divided into simple steps:
- Place water in a 5-liter saucepan on the fire.
- Place the diced potatoes in salted water.
- We clean and cut the mushrooms, throw them into the pan.
- Chop carrots, onions, celery, peppers and garlic, sauté in oil.
- Add steamed rice to the potatoes and mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes.
- We wash the sauerkraut under water, add it to the pan along with the frying, and cook it all for another 15 minutes.
- At the very end, add bay leaf and pepper.
- Serve to the table along with greens. On the second day, cabbage soup does not lose its rich taste.
Pumpkin and Lentil Soup
A very nourishing, thick and vitamin-rich lean soup. Best served alongside green onion flatbreads, the recipe for which is included separately below.
Required ingredients for soup:
- pumpkin - 500 g;
- red lentils - 200 g;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. l.;
- lemon - 1 pc.;
- water - 1 l;
- salt - 1⁄2 tsp;
- parsley root - 100 g.
The cooking process is as simple as possible:
- We wash the lentils, place them in a saucepan, add water and after boiling, cook for 15 minutes.
- Cut the onion into feathers and sauté in oil.
- Peel the pumpkin, cut into thin slices, and fry until soft.
- Add the pumpkin directly to the lentil stew, add salt and pepper, and you can add dill seeds.
- Cook for 7-8 minutes over low heat, add lemon juice, chopped garlic and herbs.
For onion cakes we need:
- flour - 600 g;
- water - 400 ml;
- salt - 1⁄2 tsp;
- vegetable oil - 2 tsp;
- green onions - a bunch.
Next we do the following:
- Sift the flour and pour into a bowl, add half a spoon of butter and salt.
- Add warm water and knead into a soft dough, then put in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Chop the green onions.
- Roll out the dough, put in the onion, roll everything into a roll, and then twist it like a snail and connect the edges, roll it all together into a flat cake.
- Fry the flatbreads in a frying pan in oil.
Borscht with mushrooms
An unusual recipe for a familiar dish, where meat is an excellent substitute for mushrooms. Apart from replacing one of the main ingredients, the recipe is not too different from the original.
For lean borscht we will need:
- 200 g of fresh mushrooms or 30 g of dried white mushrooms;
- 1-2 liters of water;
- beets - 400 g;
- potatoes - 4 pcs.;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- vegetable oil - 1 tbsp. l.;
- flour - 1 tsp;
- tomato puree - 1 tbsp. l.;
- parsley/celery root;
- greenery.
We gradually combine the components:
- Dry mushrooms are pre-soaked for a couple of hours; with fresh mushrooms we skip this step.
- Chop the roots and simmer in oil along with tomatoes and mushrooms.
- Boil the beets, grate or cut into cubes.
- Cut the potatoes into oblong pieces, boil in water until soft, add the rest of the vegetables.
- We dilute the flour in cold water, add it to the pan, and cook together for another 10 minutes.
- Toss in the greens before serving.
During Orthodox Lent, you need to think more about God, about your sins, and read spiritual literature
During the days of Orthodox Lent, you need to think more about God, about your sins, and read spiritual literature. At this time, you should eat and sleep less. You need to stop eating meat, eggs, milk, and eat only modest food, lean - bread, vegetables, fruits.
Sick people, pregnant women, infants and travelers are exempt from fasting. And also people who are in any difficult circumstances, for example, in war.
One-day fasts occur on Wednesday and Friday of each week. The biggest post is Lent. It was installed in preparation for Easter - the main holiday of all Christians. This post is in honor of the memory of the Lord’s forty-day sojourn in the Lenten struggle in the desert.
Initially, we need to remember the ancient ascetics who compiled the rules of fasting. Mostly these were ordinary monks in monasteries. Their Orthodox life is a continuous fast. Often they simply refused to eat. Sometimes the body became very weak at this time, but the main goal of all this was to prepare the soul for the meeting with the Lord.
Initially, we need to remember the ancient ascetics who compiled the rules of fasting. Mostly these were ordinary monks in monasteries. Their Orthodox life is a continuous fast
Pastries from the monastery - without eggs and milk
During Lent, you can pamper yourself with monastic dishes without worrying about your figure. They contain a minimum of calories, but at the same time are rich in vitamins.
Real monastery pancakes
Despite the minimum ingredients and ease of preparation, the dish turns out to be quite satisfying and tender.
You will need to take:
- flour - 1 tbsp. l.;
- water - 200 ml;
- oil - 3 tbsp. l.;
- fresh yeast - 20 g;
- sugar - 4 tbsp. l.;
- salt to taste.
Cooking does not require much effort:
- Make a yeast dough by mixing a glass of heated water, a spoonful of sugar, yeast and 3 tablespoons of flour. Leave in a warm place until a “cap” forms.
- Mix the remaining flour, salt and sugar in a bowl, slowly pour in water, oil and stir the lumps.
- Add the dough, stir the dough, cover with a lid and leave for an hour.
- Heat the frying pan, grease it with oil, and pour in the dough evenly.
- Fry on both sides.
Ring with nuts and raisins
For this dessert you will need:
- flour - 4 tbsp;
- sugar - 2 tbsp;
- raisins - 1 tbsp.;
- walnut - 1 tbsp.;
- ground cinnamon - 25 g;
- vinegar - 2 tbsp;
- soda - 2 tsp;
- oil;
- decoction with dried fruits;
- salt.
Everything is prepared in a few steps:
- Grind salt, sugar and cinnamon with butter.
- Pass the raisins and nuts through a meat grinder.
- Mix the ingredients, dilute the broth and add soda.
- Gradually pour in flour, add vinegar, mix.
- Pour the dough into a floured and oiled pan.
- Bake in the oven at 170 degrees for 1 hour.
Cake from Mother Euphrosyne
Mother from the Eleazarovsky Monastery shared her cake recipe. For it you need to take:
- sugar - 8 tbsp;
- cocoa - 2 tbsp.;
- coffee - 8 tsp;
- water - 8 tbsp.;
- flour - 12 tbsp;
- baking powder - 16 tsp;
- vegetable oil - 1.2 tsp;
- salt;
- vanillin - 2 tsp.
Cooking method:
- Mix the ingredients and pour into molds.
- Bake at 190 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Bake several cakes, grease with jam diluted with water.
Food in the monasteries consisted of simple dishes and had a completely unusual name
Where the monks worked in the fields and did, for example, handicrafts, food was not limited. Meals in the monasteries consisted of simple dishes. It had a completely unusual name. For example, boiling with oil is boiled vegetables to which vegetable oil has been added. Dry eating is raw vegetables, fruits and herbs.
Each of the monks could prepare a simple Lenten dish. The menu for each day was not very different. Monastic cuisine included boiled vegetables, wheat cakes and simple herbal teas. While eating, the monks often read the lives of saints or the instructions of the holy fathers.
While eating, the monks often read the lives of saints or the instructions of the holy fathers
Nowadays, not every person can endure fasting, but at least everyone can imitate the ancient ascetics. Long before fasting, you need to think through your menu in order to free your head for prayer.
The most important condition for recipes for Lent is a simple and inexpensive composition. You can use a slow cooker to prepare many dishes. You can cook vegetables in it without oil.
Variety of breads and cereals
During Lent, it is recommended to alternate dishes made from beans with porridge. Porridge can be:
- buckwheat;
- oatmeal;
- wheat;
- bulgur;
- couscous;
- corn;
- rice and many others.
During Lent, black rye bread is allowed
During Lent you can eat bran and rye bread, but it is better to make pasta from whole grain flour.
Eating beans
If we consider the record holders of representatives of the plant world that contain the largest amount of protein, then these are beans. Some people believe that you can eat peas, beans and that’s it, but in fact legumes include lentils, asparagus and green beans, and many others. An interesting point is that peanuts also belong to this family.
Do you want to experiment with legumes? Then feel free to choose lentils. Lentils can be used for pureed soup, it is convenient to cook, it is tasty in salads and goes perfectly with any vegetables. Conveniently, the lentils do not need to be soaked before cooking.
Lentil porridge with vegetables and herbs
If you want to try lentil porridge, then you need to boil 1/3 of the water and add 1 part of the lentils, which were previously washed. After this, cook over low heat for about half an hour until the water has completely evaporated. Add salt to taste.
Monks say when they cook and eat, they pray
Many, most likely, have seen and know how the monks eat. Many have even tried this food. Sometimes people often wonder what is the secret of such food, why is church food so much tastier than their own?
The monks say food should be simple, healthy and nutritious, and prepared with prayer
The monks answer that there are no secrets, it’s just that when they cook and eat, they pray. But there are also some general principles that they observe in almost all monasteries. These are the principles:
- During any fast, you should not eat your fill; food should not burden your stomach. You should leave every meal feeling light-headed.
- food in any case should be plant-based.
That is why food should be simple, healthy and always nutritious.
The importance of fasting
Fasting is quite difficult for some people. If you figure out what you can eat and what you can’t, then in practice it’s not that difficult to fast. The main mistake of those people who fast is that they simply exclude meat and animal products from their diet. As a result, they only eat:
- potatoes;
- pasta;
- some types of bread;
- porridge;
- vegetables.
Vegetables and fruits will help diversify the Lenten menu
It is quite difficult to eat such foods constantly throughout Lent and you want some variety. If you want fasting not to be a burden for you, but to really help you cleanse yourself, then you simply need to change the nutritional structure of your diet.
Recipes for dishes from Russian monasteries
CHRISTIAN TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL AND BODY FOOD
Blessed servants of God, do not store up for yourself earthly treasures, but through strict fasting and fervent prayers, gather up for yourself imperishable treasures there, in Heaven. For as a spiritual consolation to the poor it is said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:24; Luke 18:25)
* * *
The Holy Orthodox Faith teaches the poor not to envy the rich who acquire earthly blessings for their sinful immediate needs, but through God-given need and suffering given from above to strengthen their faith and spiritually strive for a speedy eternal union with the beloved Lord in His holy Kingdom of Heaven, which is not of this world .
* * *
The lack of means for food granted by the Lord helps the Orthodox layman to make his fasts more strict, longer, and all the more pleasing to God. The fewer earthly blessings an Orthodox Christian has in his temporary earthly life, the more the Lord loves him and the sooner he will bestow His gracious Lord's forgiveness and call him to His holy Kingdom to taste eternal heavenly bliss.
* * *
Truly, the mercy of the Lord is inexpressible! And everyone who is poor and experiencing difficulties should truly rejoice in the tests of the steadfastness of faith sent down to him by the merciful God Himself, for this means that the Lord paid His special attention to the tested person for the sake of the speedy salvation of his soul in the future righteous eternal life already close to this God-chosen righteous man in the Paradise Tabernacles at the Foot of the Heavenly Throne.
* * *
Truly blessed are the poor who, for the sake of saving their Christian souls, humbly undergo the Lord's tests of need and poverty, for for them the merciful Lord considers the strict, severely tempting tests of wealth and luxury unnecessary and does not allow them to endure these hardships.
* * *
The revival of the leading and guiding role of the Russian Orthodox Church will give Russians great joy and bright future prospects in the future of great Russia. Thank God, those gloomy scientific-atheistic times are gone, when everyone was forced to study, study and study again, ruining their health in library dust and the poison of laboratories. And now each of us can, without limitation, earnestly and reverently pray, pray and pray in the newly built or resurrected from the ruins of the temples of the Lord, strengthening and saving our immortal soul before the Face of God. And the Lord has already Heard and Heeded our prayers, and Granted to Russians who have especially distinguished themselves in Christian piety the greatest wealth, the best palaces and personal yachts in the world. The rest, in order to achieve well-being, should sacredly believe in the Lord and in the great mercy of God, pray earnestly every day, observe fasts correctly, regularly attend church, light candles for the holy saints, take the sacraments more often, confess, donate generously according to your means to the needs of the temple, consult in everything with the priests and joyfully await their turn to receive the blessings of the Lord.
* * *
The most skillful cooks prepare a variety of dishes from the best ingredients, but the absence of grace is irreparable. The meal, like any activity in the monastery, is blessed. Through food prepared with prayer, grace is communicated to a person, and the soul, like the body, of every person rejoices at any manifestation of grace.
* * *
The monks gave many recipes that later came into use. This is the well-known Borodinsky bread, rice and fish in the monastery style, monastery honey, a variety of wines and much, much more.
* * *
In monasteries, according to the rules, food is taken twice a day outside of fasting, and once during fasting. But the duration of “one time” is not very regulated by the charter, and by the will of God the meal can be extended for a very indefinite period of time. As the venerable hieromonk, who knew the Lord’s truths, said: “I take food once a day - from morning to evening.”
* * *
Our mouths are the gate through which we take food. And so that the “Trojan Horse” of demonic filth does not enter through these gates, we pray before eating and thereby sanctify it. Through a consecrated meal a person is spiritually sanctified, and through an unsanctified meal he is desecrated. The more we eat sanctified food, the more holiness we become. The Lord always bestows upon His truly godly servants, the best part of the priesthood, who are sanctified through the meal, with pious bodily stature. And this corpulence, bestowed from the Lord, personally distinguishes a truly faithful holy father, who has the due fullness of the Lord’s faith and Christian piety in his soul, from every bad person of little faith.
* * *
The birds of the air do not sow or reap, but the Heavenly Father feeds them for their holy pleasing to God. And among people, the Lord grants the best blessings not to lowly sinners, doomed for their grave sins to strain in the sweat of earthly labor for the sake of bodily sustenance, but to His truly highly spiritual servants, clothed in God-pleasing holiness, who have no other concerns than sincere service to the Lord, who do not know, the human masses of the Lord spiritually nourishing truths.
* * *
At the Lord's feast many are called, but few are chosen. A true believer Russian Orthodox patriot from ordinary lay people always has from our true Orthodox Lord many strengths for successful godly holy prayers, even occasionally eating on occasion just empty potatoes or steamed turnips. And only on the great holidays of Easter and Christmas, for a particularly godly taste, he adds a little onion fried in vegetable oil to the potatoes. Thus, according to the life-giving will of the Lord, one is always full and satisfied. For there is no greater power than that given to man by God. And those of our laity who are deprived of true Russian Orthodox patriotism and, due to their great satanic pride, want to have more - there is no need to feed such people in our well-fed and plentiful great democratic holy Rus'. Another thing is the holy nourishment of the spiritual powers of the ordained servants of the Lord chosen by God himself, who piously and uncomplainingly work for the Glory of Christ, who require much strength for truly diligent service to our true Orthodox Lord.
* * *
The mercy of God is infinite, and nothing is impossible for our Lord to fulfill any request of a Christian righteous person.
On holy fast days, according to the great will of God, every Orthodox priest and other true Orthodox believer is able to perform a miracle according to the great Word of God coming from Christ: “Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief; For truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed and say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you;" (Gospel of Matthew, 17:20)
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If during Lent you really want to eat something meat, you need to cross the meat dish and say the holy phrase of the Lord:
. ” And by the will of the Lord, the meat dish will instantly turn into a lean fish dish, even if it is invisible to those around you of little faith. Anyone who can witness the accomplishment of this great Lord's miracle of the conversion of a lean pig into a lean crucian carp is a true believer, and whoever does not see this miracle is a vile heretic or, even worse, a godless atheist, for whom a place is destined for hell.
* * *
To convert egg-and-milk meat products into lean products, our merciful Lord, the great Creator of God’s entire world, gave the following prayers to true believers:
“Our Father, who art in Heaven, recreate this fast bird egg into a lean form”
(and so on for each egg separately).
“Lord our God Jesus Christ, transform this fast milky meal into immaculate fasting
.
By the irresistible will of our great Lord, these prayers always act immediately and in any circumstances. The main thing for a truly righteous Christian is to never be lazy and prayerfully turn fast meals into lenten ones.
For the sin of laziness in action is one of the seven gravest mortal sins. * * *
THERE IS NO SUCH CULINARY MIRACLE THAT OUR BELOVED CHRIST IS NOT ABLE TO CREATE With the right prayers and with the holy God's help of our almighty miracle worker Jesus Christ, you can prepare truly wonderful Lenten dishes from any fast food - for in Christianity it is not the products from the retail outlet that matter, but our spiritual a prayer addressed to the Lord and, most importantly, our unshakable faith in all of the Lord’s miracles.
Anyone who does not believe in the irresistible power of our prayers to the Lord and in the endless miraculous power of God and expresses his doubts about this cannot be a Christian.
* * *
On Good Friday of Holy Week, any food intake by the church is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
On this holy day, true believers in Christ, for whom, on the day of strict fasting imposed by the church according to the irresistible will of God sent down from above, suddenly want to eat, even a quick meat cutlet, kebab, chicken leg or steak, our merciful Lord Jesus Christ
granted the following prayer:
“My Lord God Jesus Christ, turn this grain of food into holy water.”
And in the blink of an eye, Christ will certainly do everything according to those who ask.
The Orthodox can only take into account that the food miraculously turned into water by the Lord must be eaten with a spoon, because... Don't eat water with a fork. Of course, the Lord allows only true believers to witness the miracle of the holy transformation of food into water, but for everyone else it is invisible. And whoever does not believe in the power of prayer to the Lord is not a Christian.
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The Lenten menus of Russian Orthodox cuisine contain centuries-old folk experience of nutrition with severe restrictions on food products. In the current Russian conditions, a constant rise in food prices is inevitable, and the wealth of the common people will increase not with bodily food, but with spiritual food, acquired through holy prayers. For the now much needed mass public prayers, many churches, prayer houses and chapels are now being rapidly built throughout Rus'. And our state generously allocates budget funds for this charitable construction. That is why the experience of Lenten nutrition is so important for the daily practice of many ordinary Russians. In conditions of godly poverty of wealth, sent down by the merciful Lord to many Russians to test the steadfastness of their faith, it is the recipes for Lenten food that can help many families at least somehow eat, minimally making ends meet.
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TO PATRIOTS OF RUSSIA. Regardless of religion, strict observance of all fasts by every adult Russian (the Russian Orthodox Church provides for more than 200 fasting days a year for the laity) is an act of the highest Russian patriotism. Nowadays in our great holy Rus', more than 76% of food consumed and 92% of meat are imported, purchased for petrodollars. Reducing food consumption by Russians in every possible way strengthens the food independence and economic power of our vast, great Motherland. Being on duty every day is the sacred duty of every Russian patriot who cares about the good of Russia.
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Blessed is everyone who brings generous gifts to the holy church. At all times, give more often and more generously to the great needs of the priesthood. A meager fasting diet allows the believer to save funds for the manifestation of generosity in offerings to the servants of the holy Russian Orthodox Church, who are in great need of these offerings. For the Lord himself does not want to spend money on the maintenance of his clergy, which is fully consistent with the morals of the people who gave birth to Him. To everyone’s joy, in our democratic times, by the will of the state authorities of the Russian Orthodox Church, many talents come from the funds of Russian taxpayers, which introduces all Russians to proper godly holiness.
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How to achieve godly, godly righteousness: “At the Lord’s feast many are called, but few are chosen” (Gospel of Luke 14:24). Therefore, the Lord is always generous with chosen persons in high power and negligent towards all sorts of insignificant others, for whom, due to their low natural sinfulness, at the solemn, superior Lord's divine services, the great will of God is prescribed only outer darkness and gnashing of teeth behind the cordon line. In order to establish his due godly righteousness, every true Orthodox must, at all costs, with all the holy Christian forces, break into power and gain a foothold there, in order to personally prove his sincere commitment to God and His holy Testaments. For only true and unfeigned Christian piety, spiritually confirmed by victory in elections, opens wide access to the blessings of the Lord.
* * *
Never before in earlier times did the former dark-minded Russian monarchs, including here the wild, careless communist rulers, want to have over themselves the prevailing pious holy supremacy of the many-wise and God-sanctified primates of the Orthodox Church of Christ. In the 18th century, for the advanced Russian slogan “The Priesthood is Above the Kingdom,” which was ahead of its time, the great church innovator Patriarch Nikon suffered greatly at the hands of the backward Russian autocrat, who did not want to have someone above himself other than the abstract mythical God, and by the royal will ended his days in tears. . And only in our progressive democratic time, declared by the highest Kremlin leadership of constant innovations and modernizations, did the Russian Priesthood and the Kingdom finally become equal at the head of our current most holy Russian state, inhabited by God’s chosen God-bearing people, now successfully marching into the holy Kingdom of Heaven, which is not from of this world. The current state-church brotherhood reliably ensures unprecedented historical progress and the great future of the people of Russia.
