The Greek diet is all about freshness and plant-based Mediterranean recipes! Indeed, the Greek diet is the original Mediterranean diet. No meal is complete in Greece without a Greek salad, but that's not always what you think. It doesn't have to be the classic "Greek Village Salad" of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, olives and feta. […]
FLAXSEED AND OMEGA 3 I thought I was reinventing the wheel when adding flaxseed to my salads, assuming it was a habit carried over from contemporary vegetarian ways of eating. But alas, the ancient Greeks knew of the flaxseed and used it as both food and medicine – food was medicine in ancient Greece. There […]
HELPFUL TIP: Bread salads abound across the Mediterranean and were typically a way to make use of leftover bread. Remember, the Mediterranean diet and the Ikaria diet are both about making use of everything and eating a balanced diet in good measure. Always add your bread or rusk to this salad or any bread salad […]
HELPFUL TIP: Freezing the pears overnight reduces the amount of ice needed for blending the next day and results in a thick and creamy texture.
ABOUT MUSSELS I love mussels, and love them even more after visiting a mussel farm off the coast of Thessaloniki while we were filming season 4 of My Greek Table. Mussels are perhaps the oldest farmed seafood in the world – the ancient Greeks used to farm them! Nutritionally, these inexpensive blue-black bivalves are impressive. […]
ABOUT MARINATING CHICKEN WITH YOGURT Marinating chicken in yogurt produces very tender, almost flaky meat. All acid marinades (i.e. wine, citric acid [lemon juice], acetic acid [vinegar], and lactic acid [dairy]) help to tenderize meat but yogurt, which falls under the lactic acid category produces a different result, especially with chicken. Perhaps that’s why it’s […]
ALL ABOUT BULGUR Bulgur is a kind of miracle cereal grain! I love to work with it because it’s super easy and fast to cook, very versatile, and it has a beautiful earthy flavor that pairs so well with most Mediterranean cooking. Indeed, it’s one of the oldest grain products in the region. A lot […]
What is the Mediterranean diet? It’s something I talk about a lot, but how is it possible to nail down exactly what it is? Some might say it consists of specific dishes like Greek salad and hummus, but it’s really much more than a list of recipes.
SORBET INDULGENCE: I love anything cold and sweet and am always up for a great sorbet, even if it does mean indulging in a little sugar. Part of the philosophy of eating the Ikaria way is to eat with a sense of balance, and the occasional indulgence makes life pleasant! Fruit sorbets are a good […]
PEPPER PLUSSES! Peppers are really good for us. They’re inexpensive and hardy and they pack a lot of nutrition, especially Vitamins A and C, potassium, folic acid and fiber. Red peppers are even more nutritionally dense because the longer they stay on the vine (turning from green to red) the more time they have to […]