I wanted to talk a bit about alternative protein sources for Lent. Traditionally, Fridays during Lent (along with Ash Wednesday) have been fish-eating days, and seafood is still a good alternative to meat eating. But for those who dislike or can't have seafood, there are other non-meat sources for Lent.
One such source is the egg. Eggs are an inexpensive, easily digestible source of protein which almost completely matches the human amino acid requirement for protein.
Besides the usual cooking methods (fried, hard boiled, soft boiled and poached) mostly seen at breakfast, eggs can be used quite successfully for lunch and dinner. Hard boiled eggs can be eaten as is for a quick meal, made into deviled eggs or chopped and made into egg salad. For dinner, there are the 2 Asian stand-bys, Egg Foo Young and Egg Drop Soup. Yummy and nutritious.
I would encourage you to patronize your local egg farmer if you have one. The picture above shows the variety that chicken eggs can take. In many parts of the country white eggs are considered "normal", but chicken eggs come in many shades of brown, and even occasionally blue or green.
For an organic farm, restaurant, co-op, or farmer's market near you, check out the Local Harvest website. Fresh eggs are the best!
I doubt I could get through Lent without eggs and cheese. But, not just pre-Vatican II, but pre-20th century, the traditional abstinence included not just meat, but also all meat products, like butter, eggs, and cheese. So you were left with fish and veggies, olive oil, nuts, fruits, and little else. I think this is still the case among the Orthodox.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about the Orthodox fast. Its more vegan than lacto-ovo vegetarian. But it also did not include olive oil--and in some cases, any kind of oil. Sounds like a good way to loose weight!
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