Mediterranean Diet Food

Mediterranean diet benefits

2008-02-08T02:32:00.000-08:00

I don't think there's a traditional diet that was ever so widely reccomended as the Mediterranean diet. Medical doctors, the USA and other governments, health agencies, chefs, everyone seems attracted to it.

To be sure, the Mediterranean diet was naturally healthy before non-Mediterranean discovered it. The Mediterranean peoples just never gave so much thought to it, they simply continued cooking, eating and enjoying food as they had done for centuries.

Since the first scientific study conducted by professor Ancel Keys, there have been many studies aimed at showing the Mediterranean diet benefits. Virtually all of them have had very positive results.

In my web site I give guidelines for anyone who wants to follow the Mediterranean diet.

Remember that although Dr Keys called it a diet, it's simply a great way of cooking and eating, a lifestyle I'd say, that doesn't involve any sacrifice.

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© Núria Roig,

Homemade yogurt cheese as in Lebanon

2008-01-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

If you ever wanted to make cheese but thought it was very difficult to make it at home, this is for you.

Traditional labneh, as they call yogurt cheese in the Arabic Eastern Mediterranean, is very easy to make. It's a creamy white cheese that you make by adding a little salt to yogurt and draining the whey overnight.

In my web site I give step-by-step instructions for making yogurt cheese easily. You'll be an accomplished cheese maker in no time, I promise.

Eat it for breakfast with flat bread or toast with olive oil, in a sandwich, or on a Lebanese-style pizza. You'll find plenty of occasions to eat this delicious yogurt cheese that belongs to the healthy Mediterranean diet.

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Vegetable Recipes from the Mediterranean

2008-01-28T11:11:00.000-08:00

Home cooks increasingly want to prepare vegetable recipes that are healthy but succulent at the same time.

I offer many vegetable Mediterranean recipes explained step by step.

You'll find vegetarian, lacto-vegetarian and lacto-ovo-vegetarian recipes. Many of them are versatile, you can use them as appetizers, as accompaniment or side dish, it's up to you.

By the way, on Sunday, I prepared what seems to me the quickest and simplest soup in the world.

It's a traditional Catalan walnut soup - Sopa de nous. You shell some walnuts, pulverize them with mortar and pestle, put them in a soup bowl and scald them with boiling water. That's it. You can add toasted bread if you like.

The funny thing is that this walnut soup is also eaten as dessert and breakfast. In this case, you generally add some sugar, brown sugar I'd advice. Really cool, very healthy, and lightning fast!

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Horchata - Real Valencian Orxata

2008-01-24T10:26:00.000-08:00

Horchata is a very refreshing drink with a very special taste. As a child I found it mouthwatering, and I couldn't wait for the summer to drink it.

In Barcelona, where I grew up, there were a few ice cream parlors where you could get authentic freshly-made orxata, as if you were in a Valencian town. And on the 24th of June, Saint John's Day, we made it ourselves at home.

One of my web site visitors asked me for the horchata recipe and I posted it. Enjoy!

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Easy dessert based on nuts

2008-01-23T11:41:00.000-08:00

Toasted almonds, hazelnuts, raisins, dried figs... Include as few or as many nuts as you want in this traditional Catalan easy dessert called Musician dessert.

This easy dessert recipe is healthy and typical of the winter months, as it gives you the energy you need when it's colder. It's so simple that I'm afraid people may not understand.

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Mediterranean diet video clip

2007-05-06T04:01:00.000-07:00

Here you can learn about the traditional, natural Mediterranean diet.

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Olive oil, your health, your kitchen

2007-04-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Extra virgin olive oil has become such a symbol of healthy eating that it is hard to believe that it was once accused of increasing the harmful cholesterol. It was a fat, so it had to be bad for us. Fortunately, we left those times behind and now olive oil and most fats are much better understood.

The main reason olive oil is healthy is because it is rich in healthy monounsaturated fatty acids. About 75% of that monounsaturated fat is oleic acid, which is very stable even at high temperatures. Moreover, our body processes oleic acid easier than other fatty acids.

Secondly, organic extra virgin olive oil also contains high levels of antioxidants like phenols, and vitamins E and A, which fight free radicals and thus prevent premature aging. Those antioxidants help neutralize the oxidation process, which is common to alls fats, and preserve the properties of olive oil too.

So, the fact that olive oil is capable of resisting oxidation at higher temperatures much better than seed oils makes it the safest vegetable oil for frying.

Many in the non-Mediterranean industrialized countries feel uneasy when a Mediterranean recipe calls for frying in olive oil. Frying is an old cooking technique that is very popular in the Mediterranean cuisines. It is as much an integral part of the healthy traditional Mediterranean diet as consuming raw olive oil with bread and salads.

Some olive oil tips for the kitchen

When heated up, olive oil expands in volume and food absorbs it less than other cooking oils. Therefore, you need a smaller quantity of olive oil.

If it didn't burn in your frying pan, you can reuse olive oil up to three times. Some say even five times, but I personally never use it more than twice.

Olive oil transmits flavors between foods, so never fry meat in olive oil you used to fry fish and vice versa. My grandmother always kept a jar for fish and one for meat next to the olive oil bottle. It is the best way not to get flavors mixed up.

Finally, olive oil looks thicker than other vegetable oils, but this is only appearance as, contrary to popular belief, it has no more calories than sunflower oil, for instance.

Olive oil for your health

In the 13th century Arnau de Vilanova, doctor of the Catalan royal family, already realized that a moderate intake of olive oil enhanced the vital functions of the body. In the 20th century, the late American doctor, Ancel Keys MD, documented that the olive oil based Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

We see that contemporary research has confirmed what the Mediterranean peoples knew and practiced intuitively all along.

Heart disease is the Achilles' heel of modern societies living at a frantic pace. Since Dr. Keys and his followers realized that we in the Mediterranean have a better cardiovascular health, the first medical studies on olive oil focused mainly on that area.

They proved that olive oil balances the cholesterol levels, can reduce the risk of a heart attack, can play a role in the prevention of arteriosclerosis, and fights high blood pressure.

Later, research was extended to other areas like digestion, cancer, and diabetes. The results have been very positive and olive oil usually comes through with flying colors.

One particular study concluded that with only two tablespoons of virgin olive oil every day you can begin to experience the health benefits that the Mediterranean peoples have enjoyed for so long. Incorporating it naturally into your eating practices is simple.

How to integrate olive oil in your eating practices

The easiest way is to get into the habit of drizzling olive oil over slices of bread or toasts, consuming it as a dressing for sandwiches instead of butter, and adding it to salads with some salt.

Wherever you go in the Mediterranean, Morocco, Provence, Tunisia, Italy, Greece, Catalonia, Andalusia, or Majorca, you'll find people eating their own combination of bread and raw olive oil.

As a Catalan I eat pa amb tomaquet, literally bread with tomato, almost every day: as part of my breakfast, as a snack, or, I admit, when I am too lazy to cook dinner. It is the Catalan bruschetta, so to say, and you can prepare it in no time with slices of bread or toasts, both are fine.

Here is the most basic recipe for pa amb tomaquet. Cut a very ripe tomato crosswise, rub the bread with one half on both sides, drizzle olive oil liberally over the bread and sprinkle some salt.

You can eat it plain or add any topping and accompaniment you like: prosciutto-style or cooked ham, cheese, tuna fish, an omelet, anchovies, figs, olives. Even with a chocolate bar at tea or coffee time, it may sound weird, but it is delicious.

Other recipes with raw olive oil are authentic allioli, salads with olive oil dressing, cold sauces like romesco, and sopa de farigola or thyme soup. As the Catalan saying goes: Sopa sense oli no val un dimoni, literally, Soup without oil isn't worth a devil, meaning that a soup with no oil is junk.

Here is the recipe. In a soup pot, bring 2-quart (2 l) water to a boil together with 2 peeled garlic cloves and 2 sprigs thyme. Simmer for 10 minutes and drain. Place 1 or 2 slices of country-style bread on the bottom of each soup bowl, drizzle them liberally with extra virgin olive oil and ladle the soup over it. In the spring and summer this soup is also great with mint instead of thyme.

Recent studies have shown that the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet are not derived from olive oil alone, but from the Mediterranean diet as a whole. So, eat well and enjoy!

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Creme Brulee

2007-04-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

OK it is not Saint Joseph's Day, the 19th of March, the day of the year that you eat Catalan creme brulee. But now and then I like to make crema catalana, which you probably know as creme brulee.

The secret of this mouthwatering dessert is burning the creme brulee properly. As the Catalan saying goes: La crema, si és ben cremada, a xics i grans els agrada, which means: When properly burned, kids and grown-ups love to eat creme.

In my web site I have published a step-by-step creme brulee recipe. I encourage you to try it. It is not particularly difficult if you follow the instructions. And it really is a delicious dessert.

Follow the fourth step to the letter. It is crucial for the success of your creme brulee and it was never revealed until now.

If your creme brulee tastes like English custard, you didn't get authentic crema catalana. I lived in London for a while, I ate custard several times and I know they are very different.

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Fresh Mint for Mediterranean Recipes

2007-04-15T06:35:00.000-07:00

Right now the fresh mint is the happiest being in our home. It has been raining since the beginning of April, and this aromatic herb loves dampness. The typical Mediterranean flat parsley is also thriving.

So this month I cooked a few mint and parsley omelets. The Lebanese version combines mint and parsley with scallions. The Catalan version combines fresh mint with green garlic. The Arabic version adds one teaspoon of flour. We don't.

To make such an omelet, finely chop a few sprigs of the herbs and vegetables you chose. Beat 4 or 5 eggs. Mix everything gently. Add some salt and a small pinch of pepper, and you'll have prepared a delicious, quick and easy Mediterranean recipe suitable for lunch or dinner.

You can cook small omelets or a round flat omelet as in a potato omelette recipe.

And with so much fresh mint around, don't forget to make a Moroccan-style mint tee from time to time.

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Fresh sweet peas announce the spring

2007-04-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

In the Mediterranean, March and April are the best time to enjoy sweet peas shining with their luminous green. Sauteing them with olive oil and green onions is quick and easy, and you will have an appetizer or healthy accompaniment in no time. Add some bacon or blood sausage, if you'd like more proteins and a more intense taste.

Sweet peas also combine very well with asparagus as in a Catalan-style asparagus casserole recipe.

A superb herb for green peas is fresh mint, which enhances the aroma of sweet peas. And of course, if you prepare a delicious paella recipe, don't forget to add some sweet peas.

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Mediterranean Diet Food Clipart

2007-04-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

Mediterranean diet food pictures in motion. In this slide show of heirloom vegetable, fruits and fresh fruit salad recipes you sense how healthy, juicy and delicious is the Mediterranean diet. And of course, wine is also present here, it had to be!

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Pasta dish for a lazy Saturday

2007-03-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

Today we didn't feel like cooking but at the same time we were hungry and wanted to eat well. So I decided to cook a pasta dish.

We used to call this pasta recipe macarrons a la italiana, although to my knowledge nobody prepares them like this in Italy. Anyway, these penne rigate or macaroni au gratin are the Catalan way and they are delicious and easy. And quite quick actually: In half an hour you can prepare a one dish meal that feels like a real meal.

You can use macaroni or penne rigate, whatever pasta type you prefer.

Now that I think of it, in my web site I have published a more elaborate but similar macaroni and cheese recipe. It is a step by step recipe with the exact times and ingredient amount.

But if you like to cook without measuring exact cooking times and ingredient amounts, here's the pasta recipe.

Ingredients: 1/2 pound penne or macaroni; 1 onion, 4 or 5 small ripe tomatoes, 5 or 6 raw pork sausages, flat Italian parsley, parmigiano or another cheese for grating, salt

How to prepare this pasta dish

Heat olive oil in a saucepan and add the chopped onion. Cook for a while and add the sausage and the parsley. Cook for some minutes. Add the peeled and chopped tomato. Cook for at least 20 minutes over low heat. Remove from heat and stir into the cooked pasta. Put the pasta in a baking dish. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese to taste over the pasta and broil for 7 or 8 minutes. Serve hot.

An orange or apple piece as dessert completes this lazy Saturday Mediterranean diet menu.

Related cooking articles directly related to this pasta recipe:
Cooking pasta
Peeling tomatoes

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Strawberry and orange fruit salad

2007-03-18T02:34:00.000-07:00

This is a refreshing fresh fruit salad for the beginning of the spring. In March, oranges are very sweet and we can also the first seasonal strawberries. It's a joy to be able to marry these gorgeous fruits for two or three months.

At this time of the year, this fresh strawberry salad is a delight. However, if you prepare it in the winter with greenhouse strawberries full of chemicals, it will not have a very good taste. The Mediterranean diet uses seasonal products as much as possible.

Here's how you prepare this simply delicious Mediterranean recipe for 4 guests:

Peel 4 oranges. Take care to remove the pith. Cut them into about half an inch (1 cm) slices.

Slice 7 ounces (300 g) of strawberries lenghtwise.

Line a fruit salad bowl with the orange slices as in the picture.

Top the oranges with the strawberries slices. Distribute them artistically.

Here you have it a quick and easy fresh fruit salad recipe: Colorful and succulent.

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Pesto recipe cooking apron

2007-03-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

Original Mediterranean cooking apron with the popular pesto recipe printed on it.

This cooking apron design celebrates the mythical Mediterranean joy most people love. And the pesto recipe is traditional and authentic.

Click to enlarge the cooking apron with the Italian Genoese pesto recipe.

In my Mediterranean diet web site you'll find more details about the delicious pesto recipe sauce.

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Easy fruit salad recipe

2007-02-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

Today we had a bright sunny Sunday, that is, until about half past five in the afternoon when the sky went black and it started raining. I am expecting friends from the cold European North and I am praying that the weather is as great as the last days.

Anyway, we had lunch with all windows and balcony wide open. As dessert we had an easy fruit salad with winter oranges and spring mint. Below I give you the recipe for this easy fruit salad recipe.

That's right, it seems that it is winter and spring at the same time. We have the most sweet winter oranges and at the same time our mint plant is growing again, after the winter rest.

Ingredients for this easy fruit salad recipe

2 apples

1 orange

1 grapefruit

3 leaves mint

2 tablespoons honey of orange blossom or other mild honey

1 small handful raisins

Easy fruit salad recipe preparation instructions

Peel the fruit and chop them into bite-size pieces. Add them to a fruit salad bowl.

Mince the mint and add it to the bowl. Add the raisins. Mix well.

Finally, add the 2 tablespoons honey and mix well.

Serve at room temperature.

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Fava bean recipe

2007-02-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had the first fava beans of the season. They were early, probably because this winter has been extremely mild.

The first fava beans are small and very tender: The best by far. At the end of the season, they are very big and much harder. You have to cook them for at least two hours. So I prefer to enjoy them now.

I cooked the traditional fava bean recipe, Faves a la catalana, Catalan-style fava beans. When the fava beans are tender, this Mediterranean recipe is no difficult at all.

You prepare this fava bean recipe with

- a little bit of botifarra negra, a mildly seasoned blood sausage,

- some dices of bacon,

- mint, a scallion, garlic and a small glass of wine.

I took a picture of the fava bean recipe, and I hope to publish it, together with the recipe.

We eat fava beans since the Romans brought them to us. The poor ate them a lot as they are nutritious. In fact, nowadays Egyptians still eat lots of fava beans.

Apart from eating them, the Romans used fava beans in funerary ceremonies, and they were linked to reincarnation rites too.

To prepare this fava bean recipe you have to choose a day where you have time, as you have to shell them. For four guests you need 11 pounds (5 kg) of unshelled fava beans! This makes about 1 1/4 shelled fava beans.

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Quick Mediterranean Diet Menu

2007-02-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

Here's what I had for lunch today. It was a beautiful day, with a very warm sun shining on our plates bursting with deliciously healthy Mediterranean food.

Our Mediterranean menu for today was light, vegetarian and really healthy. A quick and easy Mediterranean meal idea that anyone can try. It's perfect for a busy day.

The rice dish is Indian, but the spirit is Mediterranean. I cook it several times every week. It's very easy.

It took me about 45 minutes. And I am not a fast cook, I like to do things rather slowly. So here it is.

1. Escarole dressed with extra virgin olive oil to taste, salt and some drops of pressed lemon juice.

2. Simple Indian style rice with ghee/clarified butter and cumin.

3. Artichokes with vinaigraitte sauce.

4. 1 orange.

For the vinaigrette sauce: In a mortar, mash and mix with the pestle 1 scallion, 3 sprigs Italian parsley, 1 garlic clove, 1 teaspoon capers, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and some drops of wine vinegar. Garnish each artichoke half with a black olive.

As I get the time I will publish those recipes on my Mediterranean diet web site. I already published a salad dressing recipe, or romesco sauce that is wonderful with escarole. It makes an incredibly delicious winter salad with a very special taste.

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Olive oil - Essential for the Mediterranean diet

2006-11-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

Olive oil is a fundamental pillar of Mediterranean cuisines. Its farming began in Palestine, and from there olive trees, as we know them today, traveled North to Anatolia, and South, to Egypt and Crete.

A traditional Mediterranean diet is unthinkable without consuming olive oil every single day, in cooked dishes or in its raw form.

I grew up in Catalonia eating pa amb tomàquet every day, bread with rubbed tomato and lots of drizzled oil. On Mallorca, where I live now, you can also get pa amb oli, bread topped with olive oil in bistros and cafes.

On the smallest Balearic island of Formentera, traditional bakers still sell rolls soaked in extra virgin olive oil every morning. It's the first thing I do when I travel to the small island of Formentera. Eating that fresh baker's roll with lots of extra virgin olive oil and nothing else on top has a quality of authentic simplicity.

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Video on how to prepare an artichoke

2006-11-03T02:40:00.000-08:00

Artichokes can be tricky for inexperienced non-Mediterranean, but only if you don't know how to clean them. Here's a short original video that shows you how to prepare and pull off the artichoke leaves.

Click to learn and try delicious Mediterranean recipes from the true Mediterranean diet.

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Artichokes and the Mediterranean diet

2006-11-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

Artichokes hide many secrets. That's what makes them so delicious and special. Learn to choose the best artichokes, and mouthwatering meal ideas straight from the Mediterranean.

Artichokes are a winter vegetable of the Mediterranean diet with a reputation for being healthy. However, here we are more interested in their culinary virtues, in their slight-bitter nutty-like flavor that makes them delicious and special.

Their physical appearance is also special, and at first, artichokes may puzzle inexperienced non-Mediterranean home cooks.

To tell you the truth, I remember once feeling put off by the artichokes I saw in a Ghent food store. They looked completely inedible to me. They were huge and had a brownish-green color, the leaves were all open and hollow to the touch, and as dry as if they had been exposed to the desert sun for weeks. Now you know how an artichoke shouldn't be when you buy it.

You could hardly call those Belgian artichokes flowers. Indeed, the flowers are what we eat. They are the edible part of the artichoke plant, or more accurately, the unopened flower head of this enigmatic thistle plant.

Let's clarify things. When buying artichokes, choose compact and tightly packed ones. The leaves should be closed, or they are too old and useless for cooking any decent Mediterranean dish based on artichokes. A little darkening in the outer leaves is no big deal, but accept only a little. Artichokes shouldn't feel too light in your hands either; this is another sign that they were harvested too long ago.

Artichokes in the Mediterranean landscape

Artichokes are native to the Mediterranean basin, and every spring they shoot up their deep blue and purple colors in the Mediterranean fields. Together with wild asparagus and mushrooms, green and purple artichokes are used in a variety of dishes that connect us to a Mediterranean cuisine understood as the landscape in a pan, a Catalan cuisine motto and the motto of my web site, as my readers know.

In my homeland of Mediterranean Catalonia, we are very fond of those three plant foods, and have many traditional dishes that use them. I don't know about wild mushrooms, but artichokes and asparagus are considered an aphrodisiac, which makes artichokes even more appealing.

Now you can find acceptable artichokes all winter, but it is in the spring when they are at their best. In the northern part of the Mediterranean, artichokes are harvested from February to March. In the southern Mediterranean, the harvest lasts longer, beginning in December or even November.

Some meal ideas with artichokes

Simply boiling them in water with a pinch of salt and a dash of vinegar is the quickest and easiest method. In this case, do not use an aluminum or iron pot, because they turn an ugly dark color.

You can saute them, stuff them with rice or shrimps, grill them, and roast them in the oven. For those who love eating raw vegetables, the heart leaves certain varieties of small purple artichokes can be eaten raw in a salad.

One recipe I find particularly delicious is rice with artichokes. Their slight bitter flavor and the sweetness of the rice make for a surprising contrast. An artichoke omelet is another great culinary idea, and in some coastal and champagne producing regions south of Barcelona, it often accompanies a superb traditional salad dish called xato.

Combined with chicken or rabbit, artichokes are also extraordinary. If you like to blacken the rice of your paella, add some artichokes and fava beans to it. But grilling artichokes in the open air is unsurpassable in its simplicity. It's an open air celebration, another excuse to "go grilling" with your friends, as they say in the Catalan region surrounding the Ebre (Ebro) River, about 125 miles (200 km) south of Barcelona.

Season the whole artichokes generously with extra virgin olive oil and some salt, and put them on the grill. Traditionally, while you are busy eating the barbecued meat, the artichokes are grilling. Once they are done, pull off the outer burned leaves, and eat the tender ones and the delicious heart, where the olive oil has concentrated.

Here's another simple dish with artichokes suitable for preparing outdoors: Do your best to get small heirloom purple artichokes, pull off a few outer leaves, cut the artichokes in half lengthwise, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle some salt, and grill them. Toast two slices of country-style bread, and put the grilled artichokes in between. You will not believe how delicious it is until you try it.

The drawback of artichokes

Sommeliers find artichokes very frustrating. The taste of artichokes is so persistent, and it lasts for so long in the mouth that they don't find any wine that is right for them.

I admit that whenever I eat grilled artichokes I commit a sin. I pair them with a strong red wine like Priorat or an unpretentious house red wine, although I know that it breaks the laws of wine connoisseurs. But that's what people did before sommeliers had their say, so... no drawbacks with artichokes after all.

Here's a very little known recipe for artichokes you eat with knife and fork, not using your fingers: Artichoke recipe from the Mediterranean Catalan Roussillon

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Sauteed mushrooms - A simple pleasure

2006-10-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

Come fall, mushroom hunters walk silently through the Mediterranean forests of the Catalan Countries, their heads down, searching for rovellons, rossinyols, pinetells, esclata-sangs, and picornells, all beautiful names of soft brown-cap mushrooms that are delicious fried for a few minutes in a little bit of olive oil, with finely chopped garlic and minced fresh parsley.

If you would like to experience the flavors of the forest,click here for a detailed sauteed mushroom recipe and more Mediterranean diet recipes.

In my Mediterranean recipes web site, I also have a traditional Catalan mushroom soup recipe to warm you up. Both are serious representatives of the Catalan landscape cuisine I love so much.

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Pomegranates - A Sensual Mediterranean Diet Food

2006-10-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Pomegranates are in season in the fall. Rather rough outside, sensual inside, nobody should miss eating this fruit that inspired international Catalan Artist Salvador Dalí to paint one of his wild fantasies, an oil painting with a typically long descriptive title:

In Catalan:
Somni causat pel vol d'una abella al voltant d'una magrana un segon abans de despertar

In English:
Dream brough about by a bee's flight around a pomegranate one second before waking up.

Pomegranates have been praised since ancient times for its health-promoting properties: They contain antioxidants and potassium, and have few calories.

We believe that, but we also claim to be Mediterranean gourmets. Therefore, for our culinary purposes it is much more important that they taste gorgeous as they indeed do. And if you combine them with muscat wine as in the most simple of recipes below, well... it makes your mouth water.

Here is a quick and easy dessert recipe. You only need pomegranates, and muscat wine.

Open the pomegranates, and scoop out the juicy red seeds into a bowl.

Cover the seeds of the pomegranates with moscatell or muscat wine.

Dessert Recipe - Wine Pear Recipe

2006-09-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Grape harvest begins all along the Mediterranean coast, and soon the grapes will hit the bottoms of the steel tanks and oak barrels. So, at this time of the year, what's better than a sweet easy dessert recipe with wine and fresh pears?

Ingredients

2 firm big conference, blanquilla or similar pear variety.
3 cups or 1 bottle of red wine.
4.5 ounces or 125 gr brown or white sugar.
1 stick cinnamon.

How to prepare this wine pear recipe

Wash the pears thoroughly.

Peel the pears from the stem to the base. Do not discard the skin.

Place the pears flat in a saucepan together with the skin, the red wine, the sugar, and the cinnamon.

Bring the wine to a boil with the lid slighly ajar. Cook the pears until tender over a medium-low heat for about 45 minutes. The sugar converts slowly into caramel syrup. Be careful not to burn it, because this is what makes this wine pear recipe really delicious.

When the pears have cooked for 20 to 25 minutes, turn them over with the help of two wood spoons very carefully.

When the pears are tender, turn off heat and set them aside.

Put some teaspoons of caramel on two dishes and a whole pear on each. Pour the rest of the caramel over the pears.

If you are in a party mood or want to impress some friends with this wine pear recipe, you can serve the pears with almond or cinnamon ice cream.

I am a fan of this pear recipe with red wine. That's why I have two more versions of this easy dessert recipe in my web site featuring step-by-step authentic Mediterranean diet recipes.

I hope you enjoy this easy pear dessert recipe for gourmets straight from the true and very alive Catalan Mediterranean diet.

Technorati Tags: dessert recipe, Mediterranean diet, foodblogs, pear dessert, food writing

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© Núria Roig,

Easy eggplant recipe

2006-09-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

In Mediterranean Catalonia and Majorca we eat eggplants in many different ways, as in most Mediterranean countries. This fried eggplant recipe is a quick and easy eggplant recipe suitable for ovolactovegetarians too.

A variation of this eggplant recipe is replacing the egg with flour mixed with some water. This variation makes this recipe suitable for strict vegetarians.

Remember that it is always advisable to salt the eggplants, especially when you intend to fry them, or they absorb too much oil.

Ingredients for this eggplant recipe

4 eggplants

One egg

Olive oil

Salt

Eggplant recipe preparation instructions

Wash the eggplants, and remove the green caps. Do not peel the eggplants.
Cut them in half lengthwise.
Sprinkle some salt over the eggplants, and let them rest in a colander from half an hour to a couple of hours. It's fine if they stay longer, but the minimum should be thirty minutes.
Beat the egg.
Heat oil in a frying pan.
Soak the eggplants in the beaten egg.
Fry the eggplants, and place them on paper towels for a moment.
Serve them hot.

Click here for a delicious stuffed eggplant recipe, a great example of the traditional Mediterranean diet.

Technorati Tags: eggplant recipe, Mediterranean diet, foodblogs, eggplants, food writing, Mediterranean

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© Núria Roig
Click for a treasure chest of true Mediterranean diet recipes.

Peaches, the Mediterranean mangoes

2006-07-17T04:45:00.000-07:00

Now it's the perfect time to indulge in fresh peaches. Peaches are so sweet and juicy that they are like the mangoes of the Mediterranean region.

At the beginning of July, it's easy to find early peaches in the farmer's market at reasonable prices. They are delicious on their own, or mixed with other refreshing fruits in a healthy summer fruit salad.

The Catalan Mediterranean cuisine boasts recipes for stuffed pears and peaches that already appear in very old cookbooks. They are really succulent prepared in this manner...

Indeed, fresh or cooked, peaches are suitable for a wide range of occasions: dessert, brunch, main course of a lunch when stuffed. Or as a snack, if you are hungry but concerned about your weight...

Technorati Tags: fresh peaches, Mediterranean diet, food blog, peaches, food writing

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Click for a treasure chest of authentic Mediterranean diet recipes.

© Núria Roig