Good morning, Newdists! The BF is still on a trip to Asia, and I’ve been left to take care of myself this week (not that I don’t usually take care of myself).
Well, on second thought, I haven’t been doing a great job of that lately. Like many people these days, I’m in a bit of a rut. Politics and other things I can’t control aside, I know that it all starts with what I put into my body, from hydrating to daily nutrition. So I decided to get back to the only “diet” that ever worked for me, which is the Mediterranean diet (which isn’t really a “diet” at all). If you’re unfamiliar, it’s basically a way of eating that emphasizes vegetables most of all, as well as olive oil and other healthy fats, whole grains, and a very limited amount of meat (and very little red meat). There’s more to it than that, but that’s the gist of it. I went a long stretch eating like this, and never felt better, so I thought that would be the best place to start. And I have to say, even after just a week, I really do feel the difference. It has felt like a detox this week.
Anyway, I thought I’d share what I cooked! I made three dishes, two of which came from the Mediterranean Living website. That’s not the only source I use for Mediterranean recipes, but it’s one of my main sources I keep going back to. What you see here was also supplemented with Greek yogurt, nuts, and some other things, but these were the main dishes I ate this week.
First, I made fasolakia, which is a Greek green beans dish. I got this recipe from Elena Paravantes, who wrote a good Mediterranean diet cookbook I’d recommend. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
⅓ cup olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 pound green beans
1 medium potato sliced (1/4 inch thickness-cut in half) (optional)
3 medium tomatoes grated or 12-15 ounces chopped tomatoes
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
½ teaspoon salt
fresh pepper
Instructions
1. In a medium pot, heat olive oil at medium to low heat. Sauté onion until soft.
2. Add potatoes and heat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add beans and mix until covered with the olive oil.
4. Add the tomatoes, parsley, sugar and salt and pepper and mix.
5. Add hot water just enough to half cover the beans.
6. Simmer with the lid on for about 40 minutes (do not boil).
7. The beans are ready once there is no water left and the beans are soft.
8. Enjoy with bread and feta cheese
I ate this with polenta and barramundi (Asian sea bass):
Then, I made what is probably the easiest dish of these three (not that they’re not all easy, because they are): rigatoni with ricotta and spinach.
Ingredients
½ pound Fresh buffalo, cow, goat, or whole milk ricotta cheese or Robiola cheese, plus 2 tablespoons for serving
3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Crushed black pepper, plus more for serving
2½ ounces Washed fresh baby spinach, cut into chiffonade
8 ounces Rigatoni pasta (Use gluten free to make gluten free recipe)
2 tbsp Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
1. Mix the ricotta with a blender (or by hand with a whisk), with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, until you get a yogurt-like consistency. If it is not soft enough, mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons of warm water.
2. In a large bowl, stir the spinach into the ricotta mixture and set it aside.
3. In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta according to package directions for al dente pasta. Scoop some pasta cooking water out of the pot with a heatproof measuring cup, then drain the pasta. 4. Combine the pasta with the ricotta and spinach mixture in the bowl.
5. Stir in the parmesan cheese, adding some of the reserved pasta water, if needed, to smoothly mix the parmesan with the pasta and ricotta.
6. Divide the pasta into two serving dishes, top each with a tablespoon of ricotta and some freshly ground black pepper, and serve.
Enjoyed with extra ricotta and black pepper:
And finally, I made a new dish (to me), zucchini pie with feta. This one was my favorite, hands-down. If you like zucchini, I need you to try this recipe. It is so good. And also really easy:
Ingredients
3 pounds zucchini
1 pound Greek feta cheese, crumbled
3 eggs
1 cup fine semolina
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
1. Grate the zucchini. Sprinkle with salt and leave it in a colander for 30 minutes to an hour. Then squeeze any extra liquid out of the zucchini with your hands and put in a large bowl.
2. Add the feta, eggs, semolina, pepper, nutmeg, olive oil and mix well.
3. Brush a baking pan (9×12) with olive oil. Add the zucchini mixture to the pan and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. You will want to check it after an hour as different ovens bake differently. It is done when a knife or toothpick comes out clean in the middle.
I enjoyed mine with roasted broccoli and a dollop of Greek yogurt:
I ate the above piece of zucchini pie for dinner, but as I discovered yesterday, the leftovers make a wonderful breakfast.
I liked the zucchini pie so much that I bought three more pounds of zucchini and another pound of feta, and I’m going to do it again this upcoming week! Also on the menu in the coming week is this Greek white bean soup, which I’m pretty sure I’ve shared here before. This is an old favorite of mine, so I’m looking forward to it.
Ingredients
4 large carrots, sliced thin
5 celery sticks, sliced thin
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
3 slices orange (skin and flesh)
2 tbsp tomato paste
15 ounces cannellini (white) beans (4 cans)
2 cups water
Instructions
1. Sauté carrots, celery, and onion in olive oil on medium heat until soft. Add oregano and bay leaf.
2. Add orange slices and tomato paste. Sauté for 2 minutes
3. Add Cannellini beans, 2 cans with liquid, 2 cans drained. Add 2 cups water.
4. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until soup thickens, stirring occasionally.
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Dining and Cooking