Your won’t find it at the Mall:

Research in the 1960’s revealed an interesting statistic. Those who followed the “traditional” Mediterranean diet in countries like Greece, southern Italy and France, and other countries that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea, developed fewer heart related illnesses despite a diet which ran up to 40% fat. The people of these countries also tended to live longer and healthier.

All that Oil can’t possibly be good for you.

At first glance all that fat and a high consumption of alcohol in the form of wine, would rule this diet out as a healthy choice. I still have the picture of the rather large Italian lady in her black mourning clothes. Yet, the evidence continues to mount that a Mediterranean diet makes good sense.

The beginnings of the Mediterranean diet date back to the Island of Crete. The olive tree began life there as a less vigorous tree than the cultivars developed later. Crete is credited with the start of the olive oil trade. From Crete the olive tree migrated to Greece where it enjoyed wide spread cultivation. The rest is history.

In Search of a Produce Store

Following a Mediterranean diet means a change in shopping habits more than life style habits though both will have to change. First off, you need a good nearby green grocer… nearby home, or even preferable work, where you can pop in for fresh veggies and fruits with regularity. These items make up the bulk of your food purchases. Add dried legumes (bean, lentils) raw or oven roasted nuts and seeds (without all the salt) and a good selection of durum wheat pasta, and you are on your way to producing fabulous healthy meals. Fish and poultry will be your mainstays for protein consumed a few times a week. Red meat especially beef may make the menu once or twice a month. Lamb and goat are the more traditional meats of a Mediterranean diet, since much of the land in the dry regions of the Mediterranean cannot provide the necessary grazing for cows.

Olive oil is the fat of choice. Good quality extra virgin is not easy to find unless you live near a large urban market. I buy extra virgin olive oil at my grocery store 3 litres at a time. Then I search out places to buy the real good green fruity olive oil, which I reserve for pouring over freshly grill bread or a bountiful salad, or over fresh hot pasta, or… well you get the picture.

My Changes

In my freezer is a package of green peas, one quarter full. I bought those peas well over 3 months ago. I have no other frozen vegetable in my freezer. Why? I can buy fresh almost every day. The local green grocer right where I work carries all the vegetables I need.

Most people do a grocery shop once a week. They have lists of all the things they need for the whole week. Trial and error has taught them well. Then they load up their carts to overflowing, go home, and cram all this stuff in the fridge or freezer. By the end of the week, things are looking a little grim. The bananas are over ripe. No one will eat them. The lettuce is slime in a plastic bag. However, there is still a bag of potatoes chips left to accompany the grill cheese sandwich and ice cream for dessert.

As an exercise go into a large grocery store and take in the scene at the check out counter. You can pick up a shopping basket so you blend in. Take a good hard look at what is piled high on those carts. Try to find the fresh produce amid the rubble.

The rubble is pre-processed food. Pizzas, frozen entrées, boxed cereal, cookies, bread in plastic bags, snack foods, fruit beverages with little or no real fruit, pre made desserts. Take notes till the horror of what you see begins to turn you off. Just before you get too judgemental, think back to your last shopping cart.


It takes too much time!

Preparing simple Mediterranean fare takes less time that heating a frozen pizza. A little pre planning helps to speed things along. I bet with practice you can have beautiful flavourful food on the table in 20-30 minutes.

Hey, you’re talking to the guy who thinks bread making from scratch is quick, easy and with a little planning consumes very little time.

Here is a very quick tasty lunch salad to try just for starters.

What You Need

Some left over crusty bread, torn into pieces soaked briefly in water and then squeezed gently to remove the water. You can use old heels of bread, even if they’ve dried out.
I/2 red onion diced small
2 to 3 ripe tomatoes (please buy vine ripen or hot house for more flavour). By the way, I hope you know, never to refrigerate a tomato. The cold environment of the fridge is fatal to flavour you paid so much for.
One can of ripe pitted, black olives. (Lindsey brand are good quality www.lindsayolives.com .
Any herb at hand, oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme… you get the idea.
Balsamic Vinegar (cheap is okay here, but remember you get what you pay for.) {More on Balsamic Vinegar another time.}
Extra Virgin Olive oil. (You know my song and dance on that).
Crystal Sea Salt

How to Throw It Together

Put the squeezed bread in a large bowl, and fluff up with a fork. Add the tomatoes, onions, Olives, and salt to taste. Toss the ingredients.
Add 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 1/3 cup of olive oil. Toss all the ingredients again. Taste for seasoning and adjust.

Serve on a bed of lettuce with room temperature cheese.


See: easy, simple, and wonderful on a warm summer afternoon out on the deck.

You made it yourself; you used up old bread (don’t throw away those stale heals of bread) added fresh ingredients and enjoyed the open air. I defy you to find that in a mall close to home.

PS Most of what I will be writing about, when I’m not writing about other things, is the Mediterranean Diet. What you’ve seen is just an overview to get you started.

Good Food, Good Life,

Nick

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