Cooking during COVID | Celebrating Greek Easter with Traditional Meal

Traditional roast lamb and oven-roasted potatoes

By Eleni Manouselis ’21
Ohio University

This past Sunday (April 19) was Greek Orthodox Easter. We traditionally would go to church on Friday night for the “funeral service” as it says in the Bible. Saturday night, we’d go to church later in the night around 10 p.m. This would be to celebrate “Christ rising.” At midnight we would go outside and there would be fireworks. After the church service, my family and our friends would gather at our house to celebrate and have dinner.

Sunday morning, we’d gather at our house once again for roast lamb, oven-roasted potatoes, Greek salad, and other Greek meals.

However, this past weekend we weren’t able to partake in our annual traditions. It was low-key. We were able to stream the church service on our TV. It was quiet and we facetimed our family members during dinner, and all throughout the day.

It was nice to be able to spend time with my family and maintain our traditions! My stepdad was still able to make our lamb, Greek salad, and oven-roasted potatoes. For dessert, I made us crepes. We filled them with Nutella and diced strawberries and bananas!

Greek salad

Recipe for a Simple Greek Salad

• Cut a few fresh tomatoes in large cubes.
• Cut half of an onion in small cubes.
• Add some feta on top, as much as you’d like.
• Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil.
• Add one tablespoon of red wine vinegar.
• Sprinkle a bit of oregano on top!
• Cucumbers, bell peppers, and avocado are optional if you wish to add them you’d cut them in large cubes as well.
• You may also like to add black olives, those would be cut in smaller cubes/ halves

Crepes with bananas, strawberries and Nutella

Recipe for Crepes

• 1 cup of flour
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of milk (of your choice; I used 2 percent.)
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of oil

When cooking:

• You’re going to want to use a large pan on a low fire. Use nonstick spray or 3/4 melted butter to assure the batter doesn’t get stuck.
• The process will be the same as making pancakes, however, it needs to be spread very thinly.