As a convenience to the many readers of this blog, I’ve amassed all the Lenten (and Lent-friendly) dishes that I have posted thus far. Most of the dishes are Greek and appropriate for Lent and some are foreign but due to their ingredients, they fit in nicely with the Greek Lent in which us Greeks abstain from meat, meat by-products, dairy and eggs and fish.
All seafood (not fish), grains, pulses/legumes, fruits, pasta, rice and of course vegetables are allowed in the Lenten diet. I have also included recipes which can be easily adapted to suit Lenten needs. Use of eggs, dairy, cheeses, meats can be omitted and replaced with vegetable stocks, potato as a thickener, bulgur wheat for binder.
For those interested in the the minutiae of Greek Lent, this page from the Greek-Orthodox Archdiocese of America clearly explains the W5 of Lent.
I’ve done my best to include every Lent-friendly recipe I’ve posted so far and have double-checked the links. If there’s an error or dead-linked, please email me and I’ll correct the listing.
This pager of links will remain on the front page of my blog right-up until Easter. I will also be adding some new dishes along the way. Here ae the Νηστισιμα / Σαρακοστιανά…
Kali Sarakosti!
Seafood
Lemon Shrimp Linguine
Garlic Shrimp and Calamari on Fava
Mixed Seafood in Marinara Sauce
Baked Shrimp Scampi (use olive oil in stead of butter)
Braised Cuttlefish with Tomatoes & Capers
Broiled Lobster Tails With Oil Lemon Sauce
Mussels Meze with Zesty Vinaigrette
Grilled Octopus With Santorini Fava
Grilled Calamari with Vine Leaf Chimichurri Sauce
Octopus Souvlaki With Greek Chimichurri
Snails Stifado with Sour Trahana
Squid Ink Spaghetti With Zesty Calamari
Grilled Octopus Salad With Sea Asparagus
Cream of Chickpea Soup With Shrimp
Ginger Scallion Noodles With Shrimp
Spaghetti With Lemon Shrimp & Saffron
Artichoke Salad With Fried Calamari
Herbaceous Green Rice With Shrimp
Octopus With Olives & Potatoes
Mussels Saganaki With Mustard (omit the cheese)
Grilled Shrimp with Mustard & Honey
Risotto With Shrimp, Mushrooms & Asparagus
Prawns saganaki (omit cheese)
Prawns Tourkolimano (omit cheese)
Grilled Stuffed Calamari (omit cheese)
Wine-steamed Mussels (omit cream)
Shrimp Salad With Avocado and Pasta Shells
Mussels Riganato (omit sausage)
Spaghetti with Shrimp and Mussels
Cuttlefish With Saffron and Potatoes
Seafood Pizza (omit cheese)
Thai Green Curry With Scallops & Shrimp
Soup With Mussels and Ginger (omit cream)
Seafood Croquettes (grate some par-boiled potatoes as a binder)
Spaghetti With Mussels and Parsley
Snails With Gigantes and Artichokes
Snails in a Tomato and rosemary sauce
Astakomakaronada (lobster pasta)
Taramosalata (made with bread)
Taramosalata (made without bread)
Vegetarian (Ladera)
Romaine Salad with Scallions & Dill
Mixed salad with Mediterranean Miso Dressing
Grilled Eggplant Sicilian Style
Scalloped Roast Lemon Potatoes
Romaine Salad with Fennel, Orange and Olives
Roast Potatoes With Tomatoes & Paprika
Bowtie Pasta With Olives & Cauliflower
Cauliflower Stifado With Kale & Kalamata Olives
Artichoke Salad With Split-Peas and Shrimp
Bean Salad With Roasted Garlic, Capers & Parsley
Chickpea Salad With Roasted Red Peppers & Green Beans
Lagana (Traditional bread for Clean Monday)
Lenten Tahini and Cinnamon Rolls
Potato Salad with Blood Oranges & Kalamata Olives
Steamed Broccoli with olive oil and lemon
Tomato Fritters (omit the egg and use boiled bulghur as binder)
Semolina Halva (replace butter with vegetable or olive oil)
Fakkes (Greek Lentil Soup)
Grilled Polenta with Roasted Red Peppers
Lentils with Pasta (omit pork)
Salad of Rocket, cabbage and Apple
Creamy Asparagus Soup (omit cream)
Kolokithokeftedes (omit cheese, used boiled bulgur as binder)
Eggplant Fritters (omit cheese)
Roasted Red Pepper & Potato Salad
Salad with Sun-dried Tomato Dressing
Salad of Broccoli and Cauliflower
Mixed Greens With Pomegranate Dressing
Steamed Zucchini and Horta Salad
Sicilian Pasta with Fried Eggplant
Pumpkin Fritters (omit cheese)
Spanakorizo Another local variety asks for more spinach, and some lemon too.
Samphire Salad With Onions & Orange
Green bean and Roasted Cherry Tomato Salad
Steamed Cauliflower & Chives Salad
Provencal Potato Salad (use vegetable stock)
Steamed Zucchini Salad (omit cheese)
Melitzanosalata (Eggplant Salad)
Potato Salad for Good Friday (no olive oil).
potato salad (with olive oil)
Black-Eyed Pea Salad, and Octopus With Vinegar
Ladenia (Greek pizza)
Tagliatelle With Zucchini, Tomato and Fresh Herbs. Add some stir-fried shellfish or mushrooms to make this recipe even better.
Tagliatelle with Mushrooms (omit cheese)
Greek Chickpea Soup. Substitute chicken stock with vegetable stock (note: not all vegetable stocks in the market are vegetarian).
Kampanoules With Peppers and Basil (omit the cheese)
Spinach Salad With Apples & Mint
Spaghetti With Tomato and Basil (omit cheese)
Spiced Cabbage Soup (omit sausage)
Hilopites with Mushrooms (omit cheese)
Homemade Buns with Sesame Seeds
For the Lenten Sweet Tooth
Paximadia with Carob, Hazelnut, Cranberry
Macedonian Halva with Spoon Sweet and Cinnamon
Halva Farsalon (use veg oil instead of butter)
Apple Crisp (omit butter and use an olive oil-based margarine)
Wow that’s quite a list Peter, scanning through I saw a couple things that I’ve missed and definitely want to try.
I love how you’ve done this! You’re a champ!
This site is going to keep me busy for quite some time….Excellent work!
Hey! Fantastic recipes, and truly an inspiration for someone just starting out, like myself! I really appreciate the hard work and effort put in here! I hope to get to know you better as a blogger, and foodie.
Regards from South Africa
Costa
Peter, sincere thanks for an incredible list of recipes. My goodness, I’ll have fun with this. Not quite the spirit of Lent?
Holy Sarakosti, Batman! That’s quite a table and quite a (helpful) list for us fastin’ folk.
Wow if you can’t find something good to eat during Lent in that grouping, there’s something wrong with you. nice roundup
Hi Peter,
great job
Respect
What a spread Peter!!!!!! I would love to celebrate with all these delicious dishes!!!!!
Peter, this is an amazing assortment of delicious dishes! I will have one of each please! When can you come over? ;)
excellent list peter – i shall refer to it in future lenten posts
Yiasou, Peter! And a happy Clean Monday to you. I’d seen via Twitter that you put this up, but am only now getting around to looking. Wow. I can tell that there is more than enough here to see me safely through the Lenten season, and I’m definitely going to link to this page on my blog. The spread looks amazing. As does the blog in general–I think I’ve told you how much I like the new format; it really just looks better all the time.
Oh, I don’t even know where to start! Thanks for the fabulous list! I will be visiting often.
Great roundup Peter! I, of course, am a heathen and do not fast the entire duration of lent, but would still like to try many of these dishes :)
XANTHI
GREAT IDEA., WONDERFUL PIECE OF WORK, KEEP UP YOUR INSPIRED MISSION.
BRAVO AND SINHARITIRIA
I could just do a dive onto that table… so many beautiful and delicious foods. This is quite a list of recipes! I’m going to check out the shrimp recipe links!
Peter, You are over the top with this food! I’d go right for those artichokes first!
Thanks for this great list Peter. I just included a link to it in my food history post today about Medieval Lent. I’ll definitely be trying out some of these dishes this year.
Wow, Peter. You went all out listing all of these dishes for Lent. While I do not practice Lent, these definitely would keep me well fed. The photo of your table is just stellar…I am in awe. Kudos to you for a gorgeous spread.
Great website. I can’t wait to make some of your recipes . Also, do you have a recipe for “rizopita?”
Nice job!!! Like being in Greece!!!
Amazing website! I have a Greek boyfriend who I am starting to cook for. We ran into some trouble during Lent, so this is perfect for me to start learning the Lent recipes now!
What a wonderful list! I’m exited to revisit some of these over lent.
Being allergic to shellfish, I went straight for the vegetarian dishes on your list. From the six I clicked on, only one link worked. The links for the potato/orange salad, tahini and cinnamon rolls, semolina halva, olive bread… are the ones I tried.
I’m going to check back tomorrow and see if you were able to get the links. Some of these sound so good… and tempting.
Excellent round up Peter!
Hi Peter, just came out of lurking to ask you a Greek food question. I was having a discussion with my mom about artichokes a la polita and she said that back in the day, “artichokes a la polita” was a recipe that included artichokes with carrots, onions, dill etc…it did not include green peas. The dish that did include artichokes with peas was not called “a la polita.” It was merely called “artichokes with peas.” My mom also proved this to me by showing me the original Nikos Tselementes cookbook she has had from 50 yeas ago in Athens. In the book “artichokes a la polita” does not include green peas. What’s your take on this conundrum?
Sophia, it’s true about Greek recipes and Anginares ala Polita not having peas in Tselementes book but how can one book be so limiting on a country and it’s regional differences or family recipes. This recipe was passed down on from Yiayia and Yiayia can’t be wrong. Cook for your family, have some fun with the recipes while still keeping their Greek integrity – I do!
So many incredible foods. I don’t even know where to start!
This site has become the wikipedia of Greek food. Amazing work, Mr Petah! An inspiration for us all.
What a great collection of recipes you have here. I especially liked the seafood index. Yum!
Thanks for posting my photo in the gazette. I’m glad it worked out for you.
Wonderful round-up of Lent recipes, Peter. That took a lot of work, I’m sure! Going to check out the shellfish list now …
Wow! You have obviously blown us all away with this list. But what caught my eye is that fabulous artichoke dish you have in the photo. Reminds me of a dish my husband taught me to make and now I am craving it. I must peruse your stunning recipes!
Hi Peter – that is some body of work! Great resource. I bet it was fun looking back on all your recipes. Which ones stand out the most for you, are you revisiting old favorites, or cooking more new dishes this holiday?
LL
Fantastic list of recipes Peter – I want to eat all of them!….Not at once lol.
Seriously you have a great site here – a never ending list of total yumminess :)
Wow, I think I’ve grown 1 month older by the time I ended reading the list ;D
Thanks for the delicious and yummy links!
Kali Sarakosti Peter!
Me toses polles kai nostimes suntages, auti i nisteia 8a einai apolaustiki!
Kali Sarakosti Petro :)
Woah, that is quite the list Peter!!
Καλημέρα καλή Σαρακοστή και καλή Καθαρή Δευτέρα σε όλη την παρέα του blog σου. Θέλω να σου πώ πως έχεις κάνει μια σπουδαία δουλειά και μπράβο σου.
Oh my god it is the list from heaven. Especially the vegetarian recipes!!! I am going to have to go through this with a fine toothed comb. It’s the ultimate inspirational list of Greek recipes for me, I can’t wait to put some of them into action!
Hi Peter, have been on your website lots of times and have got some great recipes, but the recipes for lent are wonderful, will try the artichokes first, they look so good.
Just for clarification–Great Lent and Pascha are observed by ALL ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS, and it is not excluctive to the Greek people. So this information in your message is for Great Lent, not Greek Lent and Greek Easter, but for all Orthodox people.
Thank you for all the Lenten information.
Georgia, thanks for your comment. This round-up of dishes are from my repetoire of Lenten dishes and most of them are Greek. I am very aware of Orthodox Lent being observed by many (beyond Greeks) but again, this is my contribution of Greek Lenten dishes.
I tried to open the recipe for beets with almond-potato skordelia but I cant
Hi Helen, my apologies. That recipe was taken down as it now appears in my cookbook, Everything Mediterranean.
Peter – this list is a treasure (like your whole site!) and an Greek Orthodox resource. Thank you! I noticed a number of links are ‘dead’ is that because they are all recipes that appear in your cookbook? For example Nistisima Paximadia and Lenten Cake.
Kαλή Σαρακοστή!