Lent
Does anybody have any Lent recipes they would care to share? My DH is Catholic, I am not, so after 24 years I have become bored with fried fish, eggs, calm chowder, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc.
Any ideas are greatly appreciated!
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Replies to This Discussion
- Reply by Mike Nolan on February 15, 2012 at 3:35 pm
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You can make cheese souffles (great with broccoli), Welsh rarebit, crab Alfredo, pasta primavera, no-meat lasagna (I'd probably use chopped spinach and mushrooms), shrimp dishes (but not me, I sometimes react to shrimp), oyster stew, etc. Even creamed tuna on biscuit or toast.
Actually, tomato soup and fried cheese sandwiches sounds pretty good to me today. (Heat the cheese on a griddle and sop it up with toasted bread, VERY different from grilled cheese, even before you start experimenting with the types of cheese used.)
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- Reply by Mike Nolan on February 15, 2012 at 3:47 pm
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For reasons I've never understood, my wife pairs tuna sandwiches with mushroom soup.
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- Reply by Mike Nolan on February 15, 2012 at 3:54 pm
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That's STILL not as weird as serving cinnamon rolls with chili, though. (The public schools here have done that for years, so all the local restaurants do too.)
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- Reply by sarahh on February 15, 2012 at 4:05 pm
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Not a Catholic family, but I have lots of meatless meals: cheese stuffed shells, cheese lasagna, vegetable soup, pasta with sauteed veggies, macaroni and cheese (homemade, of course), French toast, pancakes, eggs and biscuits (or scones, cinnamon rolls or cornbread), veggie chili, cheese or veggie pizza...
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- Reply by GinaG on February 16, 2012 at 12:18 am
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While I was growing up, only the very eldest of my elders went meatless for the duration, everyone else, Friday only. Some time ago, The Vatican dismissed fasting and says we won't go to hell if we eat meat on Fridays. It's still an enchanting ritual to me, however, and I was touched by the number of non-Catholics/Christians at work who supported the tradition by not having meat on Fridays.
During medieval times, everyone happily celebrated each others religious celebrations together. When Arabs invaded Sicily, Muslims and Catholics were expected to join each other in all the festivities. Wouldn't it be nice if people invaded a country to promote peace and happiness?
We always celebrated Fridays with fresh sea-food like scallops, abalone, crab, cioppino. But vegan, vegetarian and ovo-veg options are even more vast than meat options. For instance, there's only so much you can do with a steak, right?
Things that really stick to the ribs are bean soups or a true minestrone; eggplant parmesan, polenta with a nice tomato or wild mushroom ragu, served with roasted vegetables, veggie pizza. I love souffles and vegetable tortas. Big monster veggie sandwiches or a grilled portobello burger is lovely, as is a veggie and cheese panino or a piadina. I like to add some bitter greens to grilled cheese sandwiches for contrast and to keep things interesting when tomatoes aren't in season. Pommes Anna served with tossed greens makes a nice meal, too.
The sky is the limit!
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- Reply by pammyowl on February 15, 2012 at 8:19 pm
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Found one!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Zucchini-and-Corn-Tacos-354249
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- Reply by GinaG on February 15, 2012 at 9:33 pm
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Another fun and tasty treat is to make wraps with romaine spears. Fill them as you would a sandwich or burrito. The different temps and textures make it very satisfying without being too heavy. You can make mock fried fish tacos with the classic pickled cabbage or pan-fried peppers and carmelized onions, pepper-jack and guac. &/or sour cream and salsa...
The guys at work loved these made with steak or carne asada, but you can make them however you want.
Quiche?...What about brie en croute with sauteed mushrooms inside and a giant bowl of tossed greens?...Play with your new pasta recipe and make spinach/green ravioli filled with cheese, or Roman gnocchi?
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- Reply by skeptic7 on February 15, 2012 at 10:00 pm
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I've always enjoyed Lent. Its the Hot Cross bun season, and the season of the interesting fish dishes and the time I play with vegetarian soup. Of course the last vegetarian soup, "Black Bean with Indian Spices" turned into the bean soup with really interesting bits of venison kielbasa.
It wasn't bad as a vegetarian soup and this was the first recipe for which I bought coconut mik, but it was ever so much more tasty with bits of sausage.
Now I am going into the preLenten silly indulgences. In tonight's case its the really big cinnamon roll inspired by this web site
http://www.mykitchensnippets.com/2010/08/spiral-coffee-cakegiant-cinnamo...
I use my favorite whole wheat cinnamon roll as the base and the 8 inch cake pans that I bought in 1999 and haven't used to have two humongous cinnamon rolls and will make cream cheese frosting for decadent overindulgence. The rolls aren't as pretty. I would them too tight in the middle and they have the wierd peak in the middle that cinnamon rolls can get. But this is 5 cups of flour and 1/4 butter to make two cinnamon rolls.
Next is going to be experimental brownies and experimental biscotti both with whole wheat flour.
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- Reply by barrsje on February 15, 2012 at 10:04 pm
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We used have lots of "breakfast for dinner" and TONS of awesome soups during Lent.
-Pancakes, waffles, eggs & toast, french toast, corn fritters, cheese casseroles, etc.
-Look at some kosher cookbooks for new ideas. There are tons of meatless kosher recipes that are killer (I highly recommend kugel and mandelbread!)
-any kind of soup with pasta or rice in it. It's a great way to use up extra veggies and it makes tons for good leftovers to be combined with meat on other days.
-shellfish is always a good option if you're tired of the stuff with fins. Shrimp, clams, crawdads, oysters. Look on places like Food Network or Allrecipes.com for unusual preparations and recipes.
-Pasta dishes without the meat - cheese ravioli, spaghetti, tortellini, stuffed shells (with cheese & veggies). My mom would always add spinach and extra tomatoes and mushrooms to those types of dishes to beef them up a little. (Ha! A pun!)Pasta primavera is always a good go-to dish that's filling and easy to make for a whole family.
-We often do a pasta dish with noodles, olive oil, and wilted veggies. Boil the noodles and sautee tomatoes, onions, peas, mushrooms, and zucchini with oil in a separate skillet. Add basil, a little oregano, terragon, and PINCH of cumin. Add to drained noodles. Add more oil as needed/desired. Heat through. Serve with BIG chunks of grilled broccoli or asparagus and a medium-body red wine.
-A kid's favorite: boil spaghetti, drain and add a spoonful of butter to noodles. Melt and stir to coat pasta, then add onion powder and ketchup. Mix until evenly coated and heated through. All the grandkids in my family STILL make this as adults. Gross, yes. But some things you never outgrow...
-Fish tacos are really popular these days. There's a million recipes for them online. Tasty, and fun for the kids to make their own.
-There are some awesome tofu and other meatless burgers on the market these days. Check with your local Whole Foods or other similar store and see what they've got. A lot of the time you can't tell the difference from the real stuff.
-Grilled fish was one of my Lenten favorites. There's a million marinades you can do, then slap it on the grill with some veggies and a big chunk of fresh bread to toast.
-My mom used to do this thing with tuna and cream of mushroom soup and peas and pearl onions. Put everything in the pot, add a little milk or water to thin out the soup. Add spices, salt, pepper, etc to taste. Heat until just bubbly. Pour over thick-sliced bread that's been broiled with a little garlic and chili powder rubbed on it. It looked disgusting, but it was sooo good! I still make that a lot during Lent. It's a great comfort food.
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- Reply by pammyowl on February 15, 2012 at 10:19 pm
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Great ideas, Thanks! I love seafood, but can't afford it too often. My MIL used to do the egg and pancake bit often too! I helped my daughter make kugel for a school project once, and it was a disaster. I'm talking awful! I'll find a better recipe next time. I do use tofu as well, Personally, I like it but DH is not a fan. I've recently started making my own pasta, so that is what is on the menu for next week on Ash Wednesday. I am SO going to try your moms tuna creation, sounds really good! I think that is on the menu for tomorrow, in fact! Sweet, All these great ideas! I'm looking forward to trying them all. Thanks, everyone!
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- Reply by lennycubfan on February 16, 2012 at 1:03 am
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How about eggplant lasagna or pizza? For the pizza I thin slice the eggplant, coat it a little olive oil and cook it a little on a non stick griddle. Place it on the bottom of your rolled out pizza dough, then sauce and cheese. Serve with a nice crisp salad or slaw.
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- Reply by pammyowl on February 16, 2012 at 1:23 am
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Here it is.
Reply by GinaG on February 16, 2012 at 12:18 am
During medieval times, everyone happily celebrated each others religious celebrations together. When Arabs invaded Sicily, Muslims and Catholics were expected to join each other in all the festivities. Wouldn't it be nice if people invaded a country to promote peace and happiness?
If you were not promoting inter- religious peace, I apologize.
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- Reply by GinaG on February 16, 2012 at 1:36 am
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Pammy-darling:
Yes, in this post, indeed I was advocating peace.
I think things were posted sequentially rather than to specific posts, making them look like random replies. That's been happening A LOT lately, it's comical:
We all look like we have Tourette's or something!
Mike Nolan gave a nice tip to counter this by suggesting we specify whom we're responding to. It helps. Sorry for being such a...Smartypants!
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- Reply by sarahh on February 22, 2012 at 9:45 am
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I totally forgot about eggplant until some others mentioned it! We do an eggplant lasagna with eggplant instead of noodles. I cut the eggplant thin and bake it on a lightly greased baking sheet at 350 until soft, usually 20 minutes or so. Then use that instead of noodles when layering. We never have meat in our lasagna, so it is an easy meal to serve that we can all eat when my vegetarian brother and sister-in-law are visiting. I think several people mentioned eggplant parmesan too. Always a good one, if you feel like messing with the breading, which I don't always. I have found I can bake the breaded slices for 15-20 minutes, on a baking sheet and then get nice and crispy, without having to fry them. Ooh, might have to put eggplant something on the menu for next week!
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- Reply by --jej on February 22, 2012 at 2:56 pm
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We're not Catholic, but we have been hankering for Lent, because a Catholic church just a few blocks from us serves one of the best fish fry dinners in town every Friday night during Lent!! I go for a carry-out for $10, because we cannot possibly do justice to a sit-down meal there (actually, anywhere out). I come home with both deep-fried fish for him and oven-baked for me. Add his french fries, coleslaw and tartar sauce, and we're in heaven. (I have a potato in baking for my meal.) Yum, Yum!!! And I don't have to do anything but serve it.
Now, for a recipe I just found last night, it is about as simple as a meatless meal -- starring fish -- comes.
I'm not much into salsa, but I'm eager to fix this one. Of course, I have to leave the garlic off for the DH...
Fish and Salsa Bake
2 4-oz. cod or halibut fillets
2 t. olive oil
1/4 t. each onion and garlic powder
1/2 c. mild salsa.
Brush fish with olive oil. Sprinkle w/ the powders. After putting in a sprayed oven dish, cover with the salsa.
Bake 15-20 minutes, just until fish is flaky.
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- Reply by pammyowl on February 23, 2012 at 12:55 pm
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I am going to try this recipe too. Looking forward to Cindy's review! I wish we could find a decent fish fry! We live in a mainly Catholic area, so every church around has a fish fry. Some good, excellent in fact, but mostly awful. Even with the good ones it is a crapshoot, depending on the cook.You are so lucky to have a good one right down the street!
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- Reply by mrscindy on February 23, 2012 at 9:51 pm
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Jej, I made this for dinner tonight!
We drove in from Dallas and didn't get here until 7 p.m. The fish was frozen and I was in a rush to get it in the oven. Put the frozen fillets in a Pyrex dish, sprinkled with salt and pepper. The only salsa I had was medium, so used that and used about 1 cup. I thought I remembered the recipe, so I didn't look at it until after it was in the oven and I didn't use the onion or garlic powder. A true 'DUH!' moment! Baked it for 30 minutes, uncovered.
It turned out great! Really spicy and perfectly flakey. I think using the medium salsa offset not using the onion and garlic powder. Try it, really a great, low-calorie dinner. I just steamed some asparagus to go with it.
Thanks for another keeper recipe.
~Cindy
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- Reply by lennycubfan on February 24, 2012 at 12:39 am
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Martha Stewart has a baked Eggplant Parmesan recipe on her site. In a nutshell, you dip the slices of eggplant in egg then coat them with a breadcrumb grated parm mix (equal amounts of each and add some Italian herbs to it), bake it on a sheet @400 for about 20 minutes, turn them and bake some more (about 20 minutes but I found 10 minutes in my oven is enough). Then you put your tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish, eeggplant, cheese and sauce and repeat. Bake it at 375 until the cheese is golden. It's less mess and less fat/calories than frying the eggplant.
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