The time has come. Lent officially began today. Some of you may have noticed people walking around with dark smudges on their forehead today, and some of you may have participated in Ash Wednesday and been one of those people. I gotta admit, coming from one of the least churched cities in the U.S., it is a bit odd sometimes for me to see people wearing their ashes so openly. Weirder still was last year when I went to catch my train and saw a priest with a sign that said "Ashes on the Go." I didn't see him this morning, at least not when I caught my train in the wee hours of the morning, but I did see some ash-marked faces on the commute. I wish I had some terribly inspirational or sobering meditation for today, but I can't say that I do, and I'm a bit tired after a long day of commuting, classes with minimal breaks (to make up for snow days), and an exam in clinical medicine. Thus, instead of trying to force something, I shall instead defer to Pope Francis. Whether or not you're Catholic, the Pope has a pretty good reflection on Lent this year. Give it a read here. If you're still looking for ideas of how to observe Lent, the House for All Saints and Sinners compiled a list of an idea for each day, which you can find here. Biola University has also come up with a different reflection for each day of Lent, which you can find here.
Lastly, for anyone who is attempting to fast Orthodox-, vegetarian-, or vegan-style this Lent, I promised that I would be posting at least one new recipe each Wednesday to provide some inspiration. Today I present two that I have quite enjoyed.
Simple Asian Soy-Peanut Noodles -This recipe was recommended to me by a friend and it is quite tasty. Pictured at right with some egg drop soup, this recipe is vegetarian, meets Orthodox fasting rules (so long as you're just cutting out olive oil and not all oils), and is vegan if you substitute the honey with agave nectar.
Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles -This was the first intentionally vegan recipe I ever made. I love baking for my coworkers, but it took me a few months before I realized that one of my coworkers is a vegan and couldn't eat anything I made, so I enlisted the help of another vegan friend to find a good recipe to make for everyone. This was the one she suggested and it was a hit. I've since learned some easy shortcuts (like flaxseed eggs and Earth Balance butter) that make many baking recipes vegan-friendly, but this recipe is still a winner.
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