Many people follow a Vegan diet now, and groceries and markets have a lot of Vegan products to offer these days. Vegans are vegetarian, but they also do not eat eggs, dairy products and honey. A Vegan diet is similar to the diet many Greek Orthodox follow during the Lenten season.
Greek Orthodox Lent began on Monday, March 2nd this year. That is 5 weeks before Holy Week, the week before Orthodox Easter on April 12th. Many Greek Orthodox who follow a strict fast during Lent abstain from meat, fish and dairy products. On some certain days of Lent, fish, shellfish, wine, and olive oil may be eaten.
I have decided to give up red meat, sweets, and sugar for Lent. The most difficult part has been avoiding sweets and sugar. Sugar is hidden in almost all ready-to-eat prepared foods. So the best way to abstain from sugar is to make all your meals homemade.
My recipe for Lentil Soup can be adapted for strict fasting (don’t use olive oil) and Vegan diets. I also found this Greek Rice Pilaf with Leeks and Saffron recipe from Chef Diane Kochilas’ site. I am definitely going to try it.
The recipe for ice cream is so easy if you have an ice cream maker. Just mix the ingredients, add them to the machine, step back and watch the magic happen. It’s that simple.
Using a hand mixer helps, but it’s not really necessary.
I pulse the frozen berries in my blender before I add them to the mixture.
You don’t need to mix for very long if you use agave nectar, but granulated sugar takes longer to dissolve.
Just cover and refrigerate the mixture for at least an hour, or you can even leave it over night.
Here’s the very berry ice cream after a few hours in the freezer. You should remove it from the freezer at least 10 minutes prior to serving. One quick caveat: you will love this so much you may not want to buy ice cream from the grocery store again.
I served it with roasted carrots. Here’s a suggestion: make enough glaze to use on the carrots too.
To make the glaze you mix together the marmalade, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and cumin in a small saucepan. Melt the ingredients together, but don’t over heat or boil.
Roast the pork tenderloin until the internal temperature reaches 150°F.
As with all meat, it’s important to let the tenderloin rest before you carve it.
Cover it with foil and let it rest for at least 5 minutes.
At the internal temperature of 150° it should be slightly pink, and medium-rare. Also, feel free to substitute any jam or jelly. Raspberry jam or even red pepper jelly would be delicious.
Happy New Year and lots of love from Yianni and I. Love from Ben, Jason, Rahbi, Max, and also our Yorkies, Stanley and Stella.
Here’s the recipe. Happy New Year!