Really getting into the Med diet

For the past couple of weeks I've been reading up as much as I can on the Mediterranean diet - well, way of eating, not a weight reduction diet (although that would be a bonus too).  The A&E doctor I saw (I know I do keep on about her, but she was the most helpful doctor I've ever seen) said that the Med way of eating is generally acknowledged to be the healthiest there is.

We want to cut down on red meat and eat more chicken, fish, veggies and whole grains, so it seems sensible to adopt a diet that focuses on all of that, plus healthy fats like olive oil.  

I've found a Facebook group that's helpful (although some people on there are quite fanatical about the diet and do seem to be judgemental if you eat something that's a bit off-plan...live and let live, for goodness sake!).  There are also loads of websites dedicated to Med food, one of the best I've found is written by a Greek lady called Sylia  http://30daysofgreekfood.com/

I've been experimenting with various different Med-type recipes over the past week or two...Italian, Spanish and Greek-influenced, mainly.  They've pretty much all been delicious, husband really likes them too.  Some recent favourites:-

A beetroot, feta and orange pasta salad, using wholewheat pasta (it's a pity you can't easily get wholewheat pasta in shapes other than penne or twists!), with walnuts, tomatoes and cucumber and a lemon, olive oil and cider vinegar dressing.  I've had oranges in Florida-type salads before, with apples and walnuts, but never thought to pair it with beetroot and feta....try it, it's delicious, the flavours go really well together.

Braised cauliflower, one of Sylia's recipes....cauli florets braised with carrots and onion (I used a leek, as we have so many homegrown still) in olive oil and vegetable stock.  We had it on a bed of brown basmati rice with roasted peppers and aubergine, with some crumbled goats cheese on top and a hunk of my sourdough to soak up the juices.  Lovely.

Citrus chicken and rice - chicken thighs fried in olive oil until the skin browns, then briefly fry onions (leek again), peppers, aubergine and squash in an oven-proof pan, stir in brown rice, chicken stock and the juice of an orange and a lemon, add the chicken thighs back in, skin side up and top with slices of another orange and lemon, bake until liquid evaporated and everything cooked through.  We had that on Sunday, oh it was fabulous.

I'm doing a Greek flat flour pie for lunch, again it's one of Sylia's recipes from the 30 days of Greek food site.  Basically, it's a cheese pie (feta, cream cheese and mozzarella - I have no mozz so have just used a bit of creamy Cheddar and some cottage cheese that needed using up - with flour, eggs and milk beaten along with the cheeses - oh, and mint added.  It's (well, they, it made 2) in the oven at the mo and smells divine, husband keeps asking if it's ready yet!

For dinner tonight we're having a tray of roasted Med veggies topped with a cod fillet.  And do you know what, we've not missed having red meat!