Mary at evlogia is organizing a fasting recipe exchange among Orthodox mama bloggers. Eventually she will link all the posts into one post on her blog, which I will share here for anyone who is interested once it is finished (the deadline for submissions is November 6th). While the idea is to share “kid friendly” recipes, I can’t say many of ours are kid-tested quite yet! I’ve made notes where a dish might be too spicy for children and where you could cut out some of the spice. Mary plans on doing this exchange for each of the major fasts throughout the year, so I’ll stick with recipes that are good for fall and winter, for the upcoming Nativity Fast which begins on November 15th. I think I will post each recipe separately, and then link them each to this original post so they are all available in one place.

For those of you for whom the idea of a “fasting recipe” is an obvious contradiction (hello, doesn’t fasting mean not eating?), a little explanation may be in order. While Orthodox Christians do have many days where total abstinence from food and drink is advised for those who are able (including the pre-communion fast each Sunday), we also have days and periods of fasts of abstinence, wherein we limit the types and amounts of food we eat. These usually are in preparation for a major feast, to spiritually prepare us for the holy day. So we fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, during Great Lent, the 40 days of Advent, for the days leading up to the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, and the two weeks leading to the Feast of the Dormition. The usual fast is no meat, fish, dairy, eggs, wine, or oil, although there are days where fish, wine, or oil may be allowed. Mary has two good posts on the purpose of fasting here and here and I believe she may add to this little series.

Below is a list of favorites that I will post, and then hyperlink each of these recipes to the recipe post.

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

Koshari

Hummus (this is for you, cousin Song!)

Shorbet Addas (Egyptian Lentil Soup)

Indian-Spiced Lentil Soup