Avocado Toast With Strawberries And Chia Seeds
AVOCADOS 101 There are many different varieties of avocado available in the market. The most common and one of the creamiest is the Hass variety, with its pebbly skin, which darkens slightly as it ripens. That’s the variety I’d recommend for this and most mashed avocado dishes because its texture is silky and its nutty […]
Summer Scallop Salad With Microgreens
SCALLOP NUTRITION There’s something really special about the elegant scallop! It’s one of the world’s most revered shellfish, often served forth in rich sauces. But it’s also a delicious and highly nutritious addition to salads and will make them extra special. Scallops are a very high quality protein with little fat and an excellent source […]
Tofu Beet Caprese
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 […]
Bread Salad With Watermelon, Feta & Red Onion
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 […]
Mussels With Spicy Tomato Sauce
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. […]
Skewered Chicken Marinated in Yogurt and Spices
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 […]
Eggplant Stuffed With Bulgur and Herbs
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 […]
Apricot Sorbet With Greek Herbal Tea Infusion
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 […]
Roasted Red And Yellow Peppers With Hazelnut Pesto
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 […]
Cucumber Radish Salad
HELPFUL TIP: The best way to store radishes is to trim them, wash them and soak them in cold water for a few minutes. Then, layer them between paper towels in a ziplock bag. Remove all the air and chill. They will stay fresh for a few weeks this way.
Red Mullet With Tomatoes and Olives
HELPFUL TIP: Red mullets can be found in good fish markets. If you’re having a hard time finding this classic Mediterranean fish, you can substitute with 4 whole flounders or with salmon filets about the same weight. You’ll need 4 whole flounders or 4 filets. You can also sear the salmon separately in a frying […]
Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna
HELPFUL TIPS You can make this higher in fiber by using whole wheat lasagna noodles, but you’ll likely need to boil them slightly and drain. (I haven’t seen no-cook whole-wheat lasagna noodles.) You can also replace the spinach with chopped kale (it’s tougher than spinach so needs to be chopped) or with Swiss chard or […]