My Holy Week’s menu
The last week of the Great Lent is approaching. As in Greece the Christian Orthodox are the majority of the residents surely all of them
are aware of the great importance of fasting, especially during Holy Week. Holy Week’s menu is something that most people do not even
want to think about. But if you plan it, you will see that is not that difficult.
“And now..hunger..What should we eat now?”
These are definitely expressions that all of us have said or heard for every fasting period.
Without being a nutritionist, of course, fasting is certainly not just a preparation for Easter, but a necessary purification from various nutritional deviations.
Customs and rules of the Church related to fasting, mainly abolish meat, poultry, fish and dairy products (animal proteins) consumption,
except for molluscs which have no blood and are considered lenten.
Thus we have an increase in herbs, vegetables and fruits consumption, which we find in abundance during spring.
We also have an increase in starchy food consumption, which, while necessary as a energy for the body source, should always remember that we should consume them in moderation.
Here I will suggest a program/menu that I am used to do in the Holy Week.
Especially those who are not accustomed to long-term fasting, we lose hope as Holy Week approaches and we do not know what to cook.
It is advisable to decide earlier on our Holy Week menu. So we will have our shopping organized, and will not think about lent as a “problematic” period, when it comes to what we will cook and what we will offer at the family table.
Fasting, of course, does not just mean consuming products of plant origin and allowed proteins unwise. We should remember that everything should be consumed in moderation and perhaps in fewer quantities than we are used to (if we want to fast).
And let’s not forget that young children and those with serious health issues certainly should not follow a rigorous fasting program.
Fasting for me is first mental exercise and later physical. And young children will have to acclimate gradually and according to the needs of every age.
Because most people work on Holy Week, I think it is another working period where cooking (especially for lunch) will be made from the
day before, or it will be a fast-food meal (of course, excepting Holy Friday).
For Holy Monday:
Lunch: Pasta with tomato sauce and mushrooms, accompanied by green salad
Dinner: Shrimps in tomato sauce with sweet peppers, accompanied by granular rice and salad
For Holy Tuesday:
Lunch: Cuttlefish with spinach or octopus with orzo + tomato salad
Dinner: Potato salad with fresh herbs and beetroot
For Holy Wednesday:
Lunch: Pulses (whichever you like), accompanied by olives
Dinner: Fried rice with sweet-and-sour shrimps and green salad
For Holy Thursday:
Lunch: Artichokes a la Polita or Greek mpriam (baked vegetables)
Dinner: Mussel pilaf with dill or steaming mussels and boiled potherb
For Holy Friday:
Lunch: Rice with tomato sauce or lentils with vegetables and olives – For the most determined for fasting I would recommend boiled potato with minimum tahini and raw tomato.
Dinner: One avocado in pieces with finely chopped walnuts or almonds and a slice of bread or a salad with tomato and cucumber
For Holy Saturday:
Lunch:Zucchini, carrots and potato salad or (for the families with small children) peas with carrots and potatoes in the pot!
Dinner: Greek Easter Soup – Magiritsa, salad and boiled egg
For Easter Sunday I am sure that whatever I suggest you are not going to follow it!!!!
Lets take care of purifying our organisms, during Holy Week, from toxins so the consumption of our traditional dishes does not weigh us down that much. And always with moderation.
Lets not forget and those who fast during the whole Great Lent, that special attention is needed, on Easter Sunday, in both food quantity and food quality that they will consume. A very greasy- animal-based meal- in an organism that has been deprived of it for many days, is usually accompanied by unpleasant surprises.
We have already heard it all, several times by experts, that we need to pay attention these days. Particularly those with high blood sugar, cholesterol or high blood pressure, as both our own meal and the beverage and beer consumption that accompanies it should be done with moderation and prudence.
Especially those who calculate carbohydrate equivalents: attention to your calculations of fat as well, that we probably consume in larger quantities.
I wish you bon appetit and may all have a good Easter!
