Mediterranean Diet

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past ten years or so, you probably have been bombarded by the media to “adopt a Mediterranean Diet.” But what does that mean exactly? Sopping up slices of baguette with flavored extra virgin olive oil and washing it down with a glass of Cabernet? (Okay, I admit – this is one of my favorite unhealthy treats.) There are numerous websites and books that offer the basic ingredients of a Mediterranean Diet, including fruits/veggies, fish, nuts, and olive oil. But what many of us don’t know is how to put all the basic ingredients together to make a simple, satisfying and tasty meal that the whole family can enjoy.

And the operative word, my friends, is simple. We women of the Mediterranean love tasty, filling meals. We do spend considerable time in the kitchen, chopping and preparing the vegetables and meats; but most meals are not elaborately made. Unless we are expecting guests, and in that time we are forever-stuffing peppers, eggplant, whole chicken, or adding layer upon layer of cooked ingredients to lasagna and moussaka, our daily meals consist of simple salads, soups, beans and whole grains.

I arrived into Cyprus with two young children in tow. Sure, I had a bit of extra fluff on me from back-to-back pregnancies. But I also had a bit of extra weight on me even before the babies from years of a sedentary lifestyle in corporate America. After I learned to cook meals in Cyprus, focusing on the recipes I will share with each of you, I saw the pounds slowly come off. This is not a miracle diet where you pop a pill and your heart races at lightening speeds. The weight I lost was steady, gradual and, best of all, lasting. Without a doubt I believe the reason I look and feel better now than I ever did through my teens, twenties and early 30s is because of the delta change in my diet.

Every Monday, I will offer Mediterranean Mondays – typical recipes of the Mediterranean that we actually eat on a regular basis, sans all the unnecessary fats/oils to make it untypically rich and fatty. Nor will I use a bunch of ingredients that are near-impossible to find (who can find chervil? Use Italian parsley or cilantro!). The foods are focused on buying fresh, locally and seasonally. For now, I will offer the recipes and cooking methods. It is my goal to make this all into video format. But I have never been much of a techie. So bear with me as I try to figure out how to get video with good lighting/sound, and then upload it here.

If you have a special dish that you have always wanted to learn how to prepare in a step-by-step method, please let me know and I will do my best to add them to my Mediterranean Mondays series.

Thank you, my lovely goddesses, for reading. Please drop me a note below, as I love to hear from my readers.

As always, I hope you Discover you Inner Aphrodite.  .  .

Claudia