Recipes for Lent

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I haven’t been on hear in some time, and this was the first thread I popped onto. I have really enjoyed reading these ideas and the funny stories. I love the mouse “kindeys”! When we were little we had what I thought were “weird” lenten meals, oh the typical fish…but then my mother’s side of the family is Slovenian and so we had some ethnic goodies too. Like a dish my grandmother would make…you take some potatoes and boil them with just water to the top of them. When they are almost done you pour corn meal overtop and let that steam and cook and absorb the water. Then mash it together. In the time it’s cooking she would caramelize onions and heat up sour kraut. She serves the onions and kraut over the mush. I thought she was nuts when I was a kid…but now I love it! We also would make a dish called “potica” and it is like a thin dough and you can fill it with anything you like. During lent we would pull the dough thin over our big table and spread melted butter over it, then spread a ground mix of potatoes, onions, rhutabaga and carrot. Salt/pepper to taste and then roll it up and bake it…yum! I do have recipes if anyones interested! Thanks for letting me reminisce and share.
 
This thread…is making me hungry.

Hmm, I’ve just done a search, and there is no “hungry” emoticon.
 
Julchild said:
**A very easy sandwich we enjoy for Lent is a grilled mozzarella, pesto and tomato. Use a nice wheat bread, spread with pesto, place sliced cheese and tomato and grill.
Blessings,
J
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Oh my that sounds really tasty! 🙂
It’s so funny to me though. Sometimes we visit with non-Catholic friends on Lenten Fridays. They know we are not eating meat. So they buy fresh salmon and grill it. Or shrimps for the barbie. Or make killer lasagne meatless but fairly bursting with wonderful cheeses and veggies.
Of course we are happy to oblige them by eating such rich fare. But frankly, it would seem to me that I might be doing better to have a baloney sandwich on white bread and a bag of chips. 😉
Campbells tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches are my favorite lenten supper dishes.
 
This is such fun! Great recipes, too. I am not much of a cook but I buy a box of falafel mix which has easy instructions and is very easy to make, put the fried or baked mixture into pita bread with lettuce, tomato, and some sour cream. It’s really good.

I also make a macaroni and cheese dish by cooking the macaroni, then mixing one can of mushroom soup, some diced onion, about a tbsp. of sage into the macaroni then adding milk, the dry cheese mixture from the box, and some frozen peas and carrots. Top with some crunched up potato chips or shredded cheese and bake until it bubbles on top. Very easy.

And lima beans (cooked with margarine or butter) with corn bread or corn muffins (made with shortening instead of bacon fat) is great and not too hard to do, either. 👍
 
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kage_ar:
Egg gravy -

Plain white gravy, add crushed/chopped hard boiled eggs - and serve on toast.
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Oh!! My grandmother used to make this!It is SO GOOD!!!
 
My favorite Lenten recipe:

Get in the car, drive to the local parish’ fish fry, eat fish until it’s coming out of my ears, talk and laugh with friends, get in the car, drive home.

Very simple and fun! Of course, all the recipes on this thread sound good, too.
 
for the non-cooks on the boards, the easiest way to cook fish is to poach it, almost impossible to overcook.

buy fresh fillets of any plain white fish, already de-boned, or thaw frozen fillets. place in a glass pan or casserole. warm about 2 cups of milk or broth in the microwave, about 3 minutes, and pour over the fish. dot with butter, sprinkle with paprika or parsley flakes, or dill weed. Bake in a pre-heated 350 oven for 20 minutes, and start checking. Fish should be white and flaky with no transparent or gooey areas - check the middle, shlould not need more than half an hour if the oven was preheated, the fillets were not frozen, and the liquid was hot when you started.

put the fish on a warm plate
to make white sauce: put one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of flower in a small fry pan on medium, stir until you have a paste and all the butter is melted, add one to 1 1/2 cups of your cooking liquid slowly to the pan, stir until it thickens.
Or do the easy way and by a Knorr mix for white sauce, alfredo sauce or hollandaise. pour the sauce over the fish and serve.

serve with cole slaw from the deli, or the packaged mix in the produce department that comes with its own dressing, sliced tomatoes, or any cooked frozen vegetable. There are also hash brown cakes that go in the toaster, great with fish.

I made a great crabmeat bisque last week, regular canned tomato soup made with half and half, plus one envelope of crabmeat (sold in the tuna section) you could also use the frozen baby shrimp (but I am allergic to it). blend with a whisk, heat and serve, I used croutons from a package as a topper and served it with a salad of spring greens, gorgonzola, balsamic vinegrette, and sliced strawberries.

Welsh rarebit was a staple in our house growing up. my mom made sauce from scratch but I use cheddar soup over toasted stale bread, english muffins or french bread toasted, first top each slice with a tomato slice then pour the sauce over it. DH liked chopped raw onion as well. you can also use slivered almonds from a bag. serve with slaw or salad. we always had canned peas, which I hate, but french peas, the kind that come in a bag with pearl onions, are nice too.

non-cooks should get the campbell soup cookbook and the bisquick cookbook which has a lot of “quiche” recipes.
 
**Please post your favorite Lenten Friday recipes here! Keep in mind these recipes should be simple, not too extravagant so as to keep in the spirit of Lent. I’d love to see some good vegetarian recipes too.

To convert measures from metric or to metric, go here.**

Here’s my staple Lenten Friday recipe:

Catfish and Onions.

Onion cut into rings.
Thick skinless boneless fish filets
(I love catfish, but any good meaty fish filet will work real well, just be sure they’re pretty thick filets)
Olive oil (or any old cooking oil you have around)
salt & pepper
Cajun seasoning mix (or whatever kind of seasoning you fancy)

Heat a couple of tbsp. of cooking oil in a large saute’ pan with a lid. Once the temp is up just right, toss in your onion rings and turn the heat down to med low to med, keep the heat low enough so as not to scorch the onions. While the onions soften, rinse and dry your fish filets, then rub a little cooking oil, salt, pepper and seasoning on both sides. Once the onions have softened up nicely, rest your seasoned filets on top of the onions and cover (if you don’t have a pan with a lid, cover with aluminum foil as best you can). Turn down the heat to low, and leave the cover on for about 20 minutes. When the fish flakes with a fork, it’s done. The onions should be well caramelized as well, if not, take out the filets and set them aside and continue to cook the onions till they no longer have any bite to them.

To serve, lay the fish filets on a plate (on top of rice is nice too), then rest the onions on top of the fish and drizzle some pan juices on top of that.

So help me out please folks! It’s either this or beans and rice every Friday unless I get some more ideas.😉
 
Crab Bisque
easy way is to use canned tomato soup as the base, better is to puree canned or fresh tomatoes and simmer down to the thickness of canned soup. add one cup of cream or half and half (if you are going to use fat free milk, just skip the whole thing and make canned clam chowder). add canned or thawed frozen crabmeat. You could use the fake stuff, but then it won’t be crab bisque, will it? stir to heat through, garnish with fresh snipped parsley. Makes 4 cups (use your prettiest coffee cups or soup plates).

the purpose of this soup is to make your other lenten fare, grilled cheese sandwiches or mac & cheese seem really elegant served along side the bisque

tuna reubens
this is a tuna melt on rye with sauerkraut on top of the sandwich after the cheese has melted. rinse and drain enough sauerkraut for a heaping spoonful for each sandwich, saute in butter, add caraway seeds if desired. When you make the tuna melt, spread the bread with 1000 Islands dressing first, then the tuna salad, then the cheese (provolone works best), melt the cheese under the broiler, add the sauerkraut and serve.

potato leek clam chowder
knorr’s leek soup is a good base, or start from scratch.
slice one leek stalk in half the long way, cut off the root and the tough green tops, rinse under running water, rubbing off all the dirt and separating the layers. shake dry, cut the leek into thin slices, saute in butter until soft. add canned or prepared chicken or vegetable broth to make 3 cups. cook fresh or frozen shredded potatoes (about 2 cups, or 2 potatoes) in the pan you used for the leeks, but stop before they get brown. Add the potatoes to the broth, along with a cup of cream or half n half, and a can of clams, with juice. To give it more protein and body you can poach a filet of cod or other white fish, and flake it into the chowder. To extend it for more servings add a can of corn, drained, and another can of water.

poached fish
any fresh or frozen fish fillet can be done this way, easiest way to cook without overcooking
spray a casserole or pyrex baking dish with pam, or grease with butter
layer the fillets, top with seasoning of your choice
Mrs. Dash any flavor (dill is good)
lemon pepper
lawrey season salt
paprika
cajun
italian seasoning
preheat oven to 400, and heat poaching liquid to just below a boil, gently pour liquid over the fish until it is just covered, not swimming in it
for a spicy seasoning use broth as the liquid, canned chicken or veggie (low sodium if there is salt in your seasoning)
for an herbal seasoning like Mrs. Dash, dill, use milk as the liquid, fat free is fine, doesn’t make a difference.
put the pan in the oven, check after 10 minutes that flesh of the fish is white in the center and flakes easily, check every 3 minutes after that. one-two fillets will take 10 minutes, longer for a bigger pan with more fish.

serve on a bed of spinach sauteed with sliced red bell pepper, olive oil, and pine nuts. Yams or cooked carrots add another color and lots of nutrition.
 
Bee - our diocese will publish its annual Lenten recipe edition later this week. I’ll post a link to it when it comes out. I never fail to find some new recipe to try in it.
 
Here are some recipes that are in our LARGE PRINT cookbook that I had to put together for those with vision impairments. The one thing is that these recipes are easy to prepare. I will put these in the following posts. Enjoy!

Baked Broccoli Casserole
Yield: 4 - 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen broccoli
4 Ounces jar of Old English cheese (more if you like cheese)
Olive oil
1 Can cream of broccoli soup
2 Cups cooked rice
Bread crumbs

Instructions:
A.Cook broccoli and rice as directed.
B.Grease casserole dish with oil.
C.Put broccoli in casserole. Cover with rice, cheese and soup.
D.Sprinkle with bread crumbs and heat in 325˚F oven for 45 minutes.

Cheesy Macaroni Divan
Yield: 6 servings (1 Cup each)
Ingredients:
1 (12 fluid ounces) Can Carnation™ Evaporated Fat Free Milk
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Grey Poupon™ Country style Dijon Mustard
1 & 1/2 Cups shredded Kraft™ reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
1 & 1/2 Cups frozen cut broccoli, thawed
2 Cups diced cooked chicken breast
2 & 1/2 Cups cooked elbow macaroni, rinsed and drained
1/8 Teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:
A.In a covered jar, combine evaporated milk and flour. Shake well to blend.
B.In a medium-large saucepan sprayed with butter-flavored cooking spray, combine milk mixture, mustard, and Cheddar cheese.
C.Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and cheese melts, stirring constantly. Add broccoli. Mix well to combine.
D.Stir in chicken, macaroni and black pepper.
E.Lower heat and simmer for six to eight minutes, stirring often.
 
Home-fried Potatoes
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 & 1/2 Pounds small unpeeled red potatoes, cooked and quartered
2 Medium shallots, chopped
1 Teaspoon paprika
1/2 Teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 Teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 Teaspoon salt (optional)
Pepper to taste

Instructions:
A.Heat a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
B.Pour the oil into the skillet and swirl to coat the bottom.
C.Cook the potatoes on one side for 3 – 4 minutes.
D.Turn the potatoes. Add the shallots; cook for 3 – 4 minutes.
E.Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook for 1 – 2 minutes to blend flavors.

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
1 (32 Ounce) Package frozen potato rounds
1 (16 Ounce) Container sour cream
1 Cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (10 3/4 Ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom or broccoli soup
Broccoli Florets
1 (6 Ounce) Can French-fried onions
**
Instructions:**
A.Preheat oven @ 350˚F.
B.Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
C.Arrange tater tots in the prepared baking dish. Top with Broccoli.
D.In a mixing bowl, combine sour cream, cheese, and mushroom or broccoli soup.
E.Pour this mixture over the tater tots & Broccoli…
F.Sprinkle onions over top of the casserole.
G.Bake in the 350˚F oven for 45-50 minutes.
 
Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
2 Cups leftover mashed potatoes
2 Tablespoons fat-free sour cream
1 Teaspoon dried onion flakes
3/4 Cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
Dash of paprika

Instructions:
A.Combine mashed potatoes, fat-free sour cream, dried onion flakes, and shredded Cheddar cheese.
B.Spread this mixture into an 8 X 8-inch baking dish or four (12-ounce) ovenproof custard cups, sprayed with butter-flavored cooking spray.
C.Sprinkle the top with a dash of paprika.
D.Bake at 350˚F for 25 – 30 minutes.

Ziti Bake

Ingredients:
1 Pound Ziti Pasta (cooked & drained)
Sliced Mushrooms or Eggplant
1 Pound cottage cheese
1 Egg (slightly beaten)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
Ragu™ spaghetti sauce (about 29 Ounce jar – I use about ½ again as much as this)
12 Ounces sliced or shredded Mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
A.Saute Mushrooms and/or eggplant and drain
B.Combine cottage cheese, egg, salt & pepper, grated cheese, parsley, and half the spaghetti sauce.
C.Add to add mushrooms and/or eggplant and mix well
D.Add ziti and toss
E.Put into 9x13 inch pan
F.Pour rest of sauce over and top with sliced or shredded mozzarella
G.Bake at 350˚F for about 30(+) minutes.
 
“Potato Pancakes” (not the greasy kind with onions and dipped in fat. Onions are optional, though, as a flavoring in the pan).

I’m not sure of the exact ingredients (haven’t had them in a long while), but…

Mashed potatos
2 eggs
Milk (just a little bit)
Butter (optional - just to moisten it a bit - a half stick of butter I think).
Flour (I think we use 1/4 of a cup or so)

Mix together. The mix should be doughy. Place them (roughly the size of your palm) in a pan (spread some vegetable oil around) until light golden. They go good with applesauce.

Egg Salad

Boil about 6 eggs for 20 minutes (after it starts to boil).
Slice the eggs into however many pieces you want – 5-6 slices should be enough.
Scoop some mayonaisse out with a spatula (covering the entire area) - 1 or 2 scoops depending on how moist you like your egg salad (3 scoops if you’re using 12 eggs). You should use up at least a quater of a jar of mayonaisse in a large batch.
Pour mustard onto the top of the mix – Old Bay seasoning can be used, too.
Mix, then add in whatever you like - Paprika, celery, etc. and mix again.

And some nice, really simple ones:

Mushroom Pizza. Self explanatory. Go to your favorite Pizza shop. 🙂
Peanut Butter & Jelly.
 
Oh, for a working printer!! Edwin, I am getting hungry just reading about that Tater Tot Casserole!
I have everything in the house to make it, too.👍
_______________________________-
This
counties.cce.cornell.edu/Monroe/nutrition/Create%20Your%20Own%20Casserole.pdf

is a link that shows you one of my favorites, " Mix & Match Casserole". I have made it in many differrent variations, & have not had a bad casserole yet.
The meatless versions are as good as the others, & you can make it with whatever is in the kitchen…I got it from a Mennonite cookbook, & was pleased to find it online to share!!
(Making it with tuna & potatoes is absolutely terrific…)
 
Nopal (cactus paddles) is a staple down here in Lent but I can’t find any recipes. I have no idea what to do with it, and when I ask people, they just say use it as you would okra (but I hate okra and would not use it for anything).

any advice?

another lenten staple is a bread pudding with raisins, looks like milk and eggs. anybody have recipes to share?

Crabmeat and Wild Rice
Use Uncle Ben’s wild rice mix, prepare as package directs, add a can of crabmeat, thawed and drained frozen crabmeat, (use the fake stuff if you like to save money, it adds a nice red color) if there is juice from the crammeat, use it as part of the rice cooling liquid.
add a 10 oz package of tiny green peas, and 2T butter, mix gently over low heat until everything is warm and butter melts. you can add a jar of drained, sliced mushrooms if your family likes them.

this is a nice dish to take to a pot-luck, pretty, and insures you have something to eat if everything else has meat.
 
puzzleannie said:
Nopal (cactus paddles) is a staple down here in Lent but I can’t find any recipes. I have no idea what to do with it, and when I ask people, they just say use it as you would okra (but I hate okra and would not use it for anything).

any advice?
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Annie, I made nopales once, served with eggs. I haven’t done it again, but not because they didn’t taste good. If I remember correctly there is a tough inedible outer skin on the cactus that for me was difficult to pull off without making a mess of the cactus paddles. I think I learned later an easy way to get the skin to come off, but I’ve not tried it again. I served the nopales chopped with eggs in breakfast tacos. They were like green peppers in texture, but they didn’t have much flavor to them.

I found these recipes just now:

Nopales recipes

Houston Chronicle

Jun. 24, 2005 12:00 AM

Grilled Nopales (Nopales Asados)
Grilled nopales taste wonderfully charred, yet light and lemony at the same time. Chef Jose Luis Vela of Mockingbird Bistro says they are often served with steak.

Allow one to two cactus paddles per person. After you have removed the spines, use a sharp knife to make parallel slices in the paddle from the round end toward the base, about 1/3 inch apart. Don’t slice through the base.

Brush each paddle lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. In a grill pan or a cast-iron frying pan over medium-high heat, or on an outdoor grill, sear the paddles, allowing three to four minutes per side, until they are yellowish green with charred spots. Press down on the paddles with a potato masher, if necessary, to keep them in contact with the surface of the pan.

Nopales with Scrambled Eggs (Nopales con Huevos)
A common Mexican breakfast that deserves to be as well-known in the United States as huevos rancheros.

8 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups diced, precooked nopales (about 4 paddles)
Soft tortillas
Salsa

Crack eggs into a medium bowl and beat with a whisk. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large, nonstick frying pan. Add onion and garlic; saute briefly until the onion begins to turn translucent. Add nopales; saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the eggs over the nopales mixture. When large curds begin to form, gently stir the eggs with a spatula, letting the uncooked eggs come into contact with the hot frying pan. Continue cooking until the eggs are scrambled in big, fluffy pieces.

Serve immediately with tortillas and salsa.

Makes 5-6 servings.
 
Anyone have a Lenten variation of stuffed green peppers? I usually stuff mine with a rice and beef mixture. Maybe rice and shrimp would be nice. Suggestions?

Fish tacos

Fresh fish filets
canned black beans
fried plantains (start out with ripe plantains which are fairly black)
tortillas (I prefer to make my own fresh corn from Maseca flour, a little time consuming, but very easy to do)
cilantro cream sauce or salsa verde (recipes below)

Peel the plantains, and cut at a bias into 1/4 inch slices. Heat a couple of tbls of cooking oil in a saute’ pan (olive is not the best choice as it’s fairly strong in flavor and the plantains are very mild in flavor). Fry the plantians on a med low heat till they are golden.

Rinse the fish filets, oil and season with the seasoning of your choice (a little taco seasoning would probably do well). Place in hot oil in saute’ pan over a low heat and allow to cook till fish flake with a fork, turning once.

Cilantro cream sauce
1/8 cup chopped fresh cilantro
equal parts buttermilk, sourcream and mayonnaise
mix with wisk

Salsa verde
6 tomatillos (paper skins removed)
1/2 a med sweet onion diced
1/8 cup chopped cilantro

Boil the tomatillos and onions in enough water to cover until there is no bite left to either. Place in blender with 1/4 cup of the remaining cooking liquid and blend till smooth. Add cilantro.

Serve family style, allowing each member at the dinner table to make their own taco. The plantains and black beans can either be placed inside the taco or served as a side dish.

Some conga music in the background makes good sauce for the whole meal. 😉
 
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