Tuscan peasant salad

1 cup canned cannellini beans
1 ham slice
2 tomatoes
2 eggs
1 scallion (spring onion)
3 cups roughly torn romaine (Cos) lettuce
ј green pepper (capsicum)
4 mushrooms
3 tablespoons of Italian vinaigrette

Rinse and drain cannellini beans, finely chop ham slice, boil eggs and slice them, thinly slice scallion and mushrooms, and dice paper. Then put all ingredients in a salad bowl except the dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine just before serving.

Miso soup with tofu and mushroom

3 cups dashi stock
2 thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
1Ѕ tablespoons miso paste
1 tablespoon Japanese soy sauce
1Ѕ oz (45g) silken tofu—cut into cubes
Ѕ scallion—thinly sliced on the diagonal
Put the stock in a saucepan, add the mushrooms and boil for 3 minutes. Blend together the miso and soy sauce in a small bowl and add to the hot dashi stock. Put the tofu into ne mixture. Heat the soup and just before boiling remove from the heat. Pour the soup into bowls and garnish with the sliced scallions.
You can add different ingredients to make a more substantial soup, such as cooked shrimp, snow pea sprouts, cooked rice noodles, or paper-thin slices of fresh ginger.

Mediterranean Recipes

Such Treasures Blog writes about advantages to following a traditional Mediterranean diet:

• lots of whole-grain foods, as opposed to refined grain foods
• mostly mono-unsaturated fats (from olive oil)
• good amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from nuts, seeds, fish and vegetables
• less consumption meats and poultry
• greater consumption of legumes and fish
• less consumption of dairy foods
• where dairy is consumed it is usually in the form of small amounts of cheese & yogurt
• emphasis on fresh foods and a great variety of fruits & vegetables
• little processing of foods
• usage of seasonal, local ingredients

Here are some of my favorite Mediterranean recipe

Chicken Espana

• ½ cup pitted ripe olives


• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil


• ¼ cup red wine vinegar


• 1 Tbsp. dried oregano leaves


• 3 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 chicken, cut-up


• ¼ cup packed brown sugar


• ¼ cup dry white wine
  2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Mix olives, oil, vinegar, oregano and garlic. Pour over chicken in large ziplock bag. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours or ov turning occasionally. Arrange chicken with marinade in shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Pour wine into p
350 degrees for 1 hour or until cooked through, basting every 20 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Source (PDF)

Rice and chestnut recipe

• 1 1/2 cup rice - washed


• 1 medium-sized onion - finely chopped


• 20 roasted chestnuts - peeled. How to roast chestnuts.


• 2 tablespoons olive oil


• 2 inches cinnamon stick


• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 7 cloves


• 1/4 teaspoon cumin


• 3 corns pepper


• 4 cups hot water


• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Roast the chestnuts in the oven. Heat olive oil in an earthen casserole or Dutch oven. When it's hot, add the onion. When the onion turns golden, add the hot water, the roasted chestnuts and the salt. Stir briefly. Bring the water to a boil, and cook uncovered for 10 minutes over medium heat. Add the rice and all the spices. Stir briefly. (Check that the rice is nicely covered with water. If not, add a little more water so that the rice doesn't become dry.). Cook uncovered for about 8 more minutes. Cover and turn heat to low. Cook for 8 to 9 minutes. Turn off heat and let it rest for 5 minutes. The chestnut recipe has then time to develop its natural forest aromas to the full.

Source

Mediterranean Diet plan

Among various types of diets there exists a type of it that can prolong your live, decrease the risk of cancer and heart disease, and also reduce the level of cholesterol. This diet is called the Mediterranean diet.

Compared to Americans and other people the Mediterranean Sea dwellers show lower rates of heart disease. Studies conducted in the past few years have discovered the main dietary habits which found to be a significant part of the lower rates of chronic disease.

The Mediterranean diet mostly contains fruits, grains, vegetables, and beans including little meat and plenty of olive oil. Research works assume that the yogurt live bacterial cultures may also influence the peoples’ good health. One thing which is usually contained in Mediterranean dishes is garlic that can prevent blood clots, reduce the level of cholesterol, protecting you against cancer.
The Mediterranean diet also contains small amounts of wine. Some explorers believe that this may be responsible for Mediterranean’s healthy hearts. Daily dose for men is two glasses, for women - one glass.
The Mediterranean diet means high consumption of breads, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta, bulgur and potatoes, fruits, legumes and vegetables, average amounts of steamed and grilled fish, and also olive oil that is used with fresh vegetables and on salads, small doses of lean red meat with no visible fat, lean pork, small amounts of alcohol, and high use of antioxidants. Regular exercise is considered to be an important part of Mediterranean health.

For Mediterranean Diet plan you don’t have to buy special foods to be successful on it because it includes lean meat, poultry, seafood, low fat cheese, eggs, egg substitutes and a wide range of vegetables. You can also consume whole fruits, cereal and skim milk. Wheat, multi-grain and pita bread, as well as whole wheat pasta, brown rice, peas, beans and lentils is your normal food intake. You can also include olive oil and a small amount of wine. Vegetarians can substitute tofu for the fish, poultry and meat.
Although this diet can help your body to reach and maintain optimal weight it isn’t a weight loss one. It depends on how much you weigh to start. Overweight, men lose an average of 6-8 pounds after the first two weeks on the diet, women - 4-6 pounds. This meal usually planned for about six weeks, but you can stay on this way of eating for life.

Traditional Mediterranean diet

The graphic illustration given below represents a healthy, traditional Mediterranean diet. It is build according to the dietary traditions of southern Italy, Crete and much of the rest of Greece in the period about 1960, based on current nutrition investigations. The selection of exactly these regions and exactly this period is based on the following considerations:

- The fact that the rate of chronic diseases for these populations at that time was the lowest in the world and adult average life was almost the highest, in spite of that fact that medical services were really poor;

- Presence of food consumption patterns’ descriptions at that time;

- The conformity of the dietary models received using above given data and contemporary openings of optimal nutrition based on epidemiological researches and clinical tests all over the world.

Sorts of such diet have traditionally subsisted also in other parts of Italy, France, parts of Spain and Portugal, parts of Turkey, parts of North Africa, another parts of the Balkan region, and parts of the Middle East. The point is that these areas in the Mediterranean region have olive oil cultivation to which the diet is closely connected.

On the basis of the obtained geographical and time parameters the sentence “Traditional Mediterranean diet” is used here as a term for the healthy traditional diets of these regions at that particular time.

The Mediterranean Diet: Health Benefits

I've read The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook yesterday. Author writes about health benefits of the mediterranean diet:

antioxidants - powerful scavengers of free radicals; free radicals are chemical substances that travel around in the body and cause damage to body cells

carotenoids – found in red, orange, and yellow plant leaves, fruits, and flowers; they may protect the body against damage from light and oxygen

monounsaturated fats - may delay or reduce development of cancers of the breast, colon, and skin

phytochemicals - substances produced in plants to protect them against viruses, bacteria, and fungi

These are thought to promote the longer lives and lower incidence of chronic diseases found in
this region.

[More information about mediterranean diet (PDF)]

All About Mediterranean Diet

The Traditional Healthy Mediterranean Diet is based on the healthy eating and lifestyle habits of the folks living in southern Italy, the Greek island of Crete, and other areas of Greece. Oxygen.com reviews the Mediterranean Diet and writes, «Researchers believe that the diet and lifestyle of the region was the secret to good health. The typical fat intake ranged from less than 25 percent of their daily calories to over 35 percent -- but much of it came from heart-healthy olive oil. The diet boasted a low amount of artery-clogging saturated fat, coming in at no more than 8 percent of their total calories daily.»

The traditional Mediterranean diet features an abundance of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts and cereals and regular use of olive oil (monounsaturated fats), moderate amounts of fish and dairy products (mostly yogurt or cheese), small amounts of red meat (low intake of saturated fats) and moderate consumption of alcohol, usually in the form of wine and consumed at meals.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece analyzed the diets of more than 22,000 participants enrolled in the Greek component of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) between 1994 and 1999.  “The results are clear; a Mediterranean diet featuring olive oil, vegetables, fish, fruits and low in saturated fats and enjoyed for many years by the people of that region, is healthy and promotes longevity,” said Dimitrios Trichopoulos, senior author of the study and the Vincent L. Gregory Professor of Cancer Prevention in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. “The magnitude of the reduction in mortality underscores the longevity advantage that adult Mediterranean populations have experienced for centuries.” (read more about study at Harvard School of Public Health site).