Vegan Recipes
Many traditional Greek sweets, especially during periods of fasting, such as Lent, call for olive oil instead of butter. An apple crisp isn’t exactly traditional Greek food. I’ve “hellenized” a classic American dessert by adding two distinct greek flavors, that of olive oil and the scented geranium, arbaroriza in Greek, which Greek cooks often use […]
Highly nutritious sweet potatoes, rich in antioxidants, were a really important longevity food on the Blue Zone Greek island of Ikaria. Indeed, they were once the dessert of choice, simply baked and savored by children who are now well into their 80s and 90s, who probably didn’t know way back when that consuming them […]
This Mediterranean diet recipe calls for a very traditional, nutritious Greek-Mediterranean ingredient: tahini! Used all over the Eastern Mediterranean, tahini is one of the superfoods of the Mediterranean diet. While this isn’t a traditional Greek recipe per se, but rather inspired by the delicious cold sesame noodles in Chinese cuisine, the extra virgin Greek […]
The Greek recipe Fava is one of the all-time classic Greek meze plates, most often made with yellow split peas cooked until they disintegrate into a puree then swirled to creamy perfection with extra virgin Greek olive oil and lemon juice. It’s a Mediterranean diet standard bearer! There are a few regional fava recipes, […]
Hummus is one of the great recipes of the Mediterranean diet, a classic of Middle Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean cuisines, crossing cultural and religious boundaries. It’s also extraordinarily healthy and versatile. You can add your own inspiration to this basic recipe with things like roasted red peppers, pesto, pureed beets, feta and more.
Bean lovers rejoice! This Greek recipe, called Sympetherio, hails from Crete and is the absolute perfect paradigm of the healthy Mediterranean diet. In the Greek diet, as you know, beans have played a major role forever. Here, a medley of beans, grains and vegetables are mixed together into a nutritious whole. Feel free to […]
This Greek recipe for glazed carrots calls for some of my favorite traditional Greek ingredients: extra virgin olive oil, Corinthian currants and petimezi, which is grape molasses. You can find them all online!
This Greek recipe is inspired by a traditional recipe from the Blue Zone Greek island of Ikaria, renowned for its longevity and home to some amazing green Mediterranean cooking. Pretty much everything in the cabbage family – brassica – figures prominently in the local cuisine and the original rendition of this calls for something […]
Chestnuts, one of the oldest foods in the eastern Mediterranean, known to the ancient and modern Greeks alike by the same name, kastano, have always been an important food. This unusual Greek recipe, from my book My Greek Table, is one of my favorites. It is an old country dish from Arcadia in the […]
Nothing refreshes like this Greek salad of citrus, pomegranate and mint. It’s the perfect foil for any rich meal and a wonderful example of the vibrant but simple Mediterranean Diet. Remember to use extra virgin Greek olive oil and sea salt for the best flavor!