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As a preventive cardiologist, I’m a big fan of the Mediterranean style of eating (really more a lifestyle than a “diet”), which has been shown in study after study to be one of the best ways of eating for heart health, as well as for its anti-inflammatory properties.
So, I’m always on the lookout for new Mediterranean recipes that are both healthy and delicious. The Mediterranean Dish: 120 Bold and Healthy Recipes You’ll Make on Repeat, a new cookbook by Suzy Karadsheh (founder of TheMediterraneanDish.com ), has rapidly become one of my favorites.
Blend of Egypt and the Levant
The Mediterranean Dish has been a New York Times bestseller and an Amazon bestseller, and for good reason! The recipes are fairly easy to follow and accompanied by beautiful images, as well as by stories from Karadsheh about how her upbringing in Port Said, Egypt, influences her cooking.
Karadsheh relates her foundational experiences in her mother’s Egyptian kitchen: “Even though I was doing homework, I was also observing the magic happening in our kitchen. Maybe that’s why now, when I taste something I’m cooking, I know just the right amount of cumin or allspice to add without measuring.”
She then details her journey to America and how she met her husband, Saba, whose mother (“Mama Dina”) taught Karadsheh skills from her Levantine kitchen. As Karadsheh puts it, “Mama Dina cooked nonstop, both for her family and for the family’s two restaurants [in Michigan] … I can easily say that she influenced the second half of my life in the most delicious of ways.”
Shared Philosophies
Most important of all, though, is how healthful and well-balanced these recipes are. Karadsheh shares my attitude toward healthy home cooking in the Mediterranean style, and my philosophy toward incorporating whole ingredients—even some meat-based options, in moderation.
As Karadsheh writes: “In my kitchen, that means meals relying heavily on seasonal, plant-based foods like vegetables, fruit, grains, legumes, and nuts, and lots of extra-virgin olive oil. (I do buy butter, but a pound might last me for months!) Lean proteins, mainly from fish and poultry, show up on the table a few times a week. I do make room for lamb and baklava on occasion because, my heavens, what’s life without baklava?”
Favorite Recipes
There are so many good recipes from which to choose in this book! Here are just a few of my favorites:
Everyday tomato and cucumber salad with dad’s salad ‘whisky,’ p. 36 – such a healthy and typically Mediterranean salad, this one reminds me so much of the salad my Syrian mother taught my sisters and me to make while we were growing up.
Savory baked feta, p. 70 – this makes a very tasty side, especially when you want to add a little more protein to any vegetarian meal.
Ful mudammas, p. 102 – considered Egypt’s national dish, Karadsheh’s version is so flavorful and absolutely delicious! I use California Garden’s Premium Fava Beans, and it turns out perfectly.
Olive oil and garlic spaghetti with artichokes and olives, p. 165 (Note: I cut the pasta portion in half and add baby spinach to this one to increase its healthfulness and protein content.)
Food for Thought
Perhaps my favorite quote of all from the book:
“The Mediterranean Diet is not a fad; and the reason its popularity never goes out of style is that pleasure, not restriction, is its central feature.”
Suzy Karadsheh has done a fantastic job of illustrating exactly this in The Mediterranean Dish.
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