What to Eat During a Daniel Fast? Pasta Tapenade & More

Ok, so you are going to start the 21 day Daniel Fast (if you are unfamiliar with this check out Daniel 10:2-3) and you are wondering what you are going to eat. The nutrition group at our church met on Saturday to discuss just this. Some of us are just starting, others have been fasting for several days and the rest are contemplating. Daniel-Fast.com is a wonderful website to help get you started and to explain the fast and it's purpose in more depth.

Daniel Fasting does not have to be boring or torture, it does take discipline though, it takes you telling your body what it is going to do instead of the other way around.

Here are the recipes for the foods pictured above:

Pasta Tapenade - This recipe is an original, my husband created it on a Daniel Fast a couple of years ago. It has become a family favorite and we eat it quite frequently. On nights when we can't think of what to eat for dinner we have a Pasta Tapanade night, it's whats for dinner. Video Directions 

12 oz. whole wheat penne pasta
2 cans organic diced tomatoes
1 medium onion finely diced
3 large cloves of garlic-crushed
6 Tablespoons of olive oil (regular, not extra virgin)
2 Tablespoons of Dill
3 Tablespoons of Basil
6 Tablespoons of olive tapanade
Juice from 1 lime
Ground salt and ground pepper (to taste)

Cook pasta till al dente (you want the pasta to be a bit on the firm side, but not chewy or crunchy). Pour olive oil into a hot pan. Saute onion about 2 minutes and add spices, salt and pepper, mix well.
Add cooked pasta and stir until onion and spice coat the pasta entirely. Add the diced tomatoes including any juice. Stir until evenly spread throughout the pasta. Add olive tapanade and mix until evenly distributed. Squeeze lime onto the pasta and stir in. Serve. Taste great hot, warm or cold. 

This recipe should serve 6.


 Red Quinoa and Berry Salad (a fabulous recipe that comes from Communicating Food For Health, www.communicatingfoodforhealth.com)

2 cups of red quinoa (you can use regular quinoa as well)
2 chopped celery stalks
1 cup mixed berries or pomegranate seeds (fresh is best, if you use dried make sure no sulfur and no sugar)
1/2 cup of seedless raisins (use sulfur free)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 squeezed lemon
Freshly ground pepper

Rinse the quinoa (this I found to be a little tough, if you have a mesh strainer it helps immensely). Add 3 cups of water and microwave for 20 minutes, let cool.
Place quinoa in a bowl and add celery, berries and raisins.

Season with oil, lemon, and pepper. Sprinkle almonds before serving.
Serves 8

We don't count calories on the Daniel Fast, if you are interested in this info email me and I will share.


Yellow Chickpea Pepper Salad (this recipes was a surprise, I love chickpeas also know as garbanzo beans but many people are unfamiliar with them. This recipe was a hit, my son who does not really care for them enjoyed this dish) Note- this recipe is also from Communicating Food For Health.

2 cups chickpeas (canned or pre-soaked in water overnight and cooked for 1 - 1/5 hours.
1 cup sliced yellow peppers
2 yellow squash chopped in rounds
1 medium sized yellow onion chopped (I preferred sliced)
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Freshly ground pepper

Saute onions, garlic, yellow peppers, squash and cooked chickpeas. The original recipe called for 1 cup of boiling water, this made it too soupy try 1/2 cup. Also at this point you are to add the olive oil , cumin, ground tumeric, and pepper; go ahead and add the spices and olive oil when you first start, I think you get a better flavor when the spice come into contact with the vegetables and heat together before you add water.

Serves 6


As you can see, you can eat well on the Daniel Fast.