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Many foods that play a starring role in the healthy Mediterranean Diet lifestyle are easy to bring to your table. Pasta, eggs, and seafood cook quickly, and fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, cheeses, olives, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices can deliver satisfying flavors with minimal fuss.
With the rising popularity of the Med Diet, we can now buy a number of products that cut down even further on cooking times. Take falafel, for example. This popular Middle Eastern food, traditionally made from chickpeas, flour, onion, garlic, parsley, and spices, formed into a thick paste, then rolled into balls and fried in oil, is now available as fully-cooked, ready-to-eat packaged falafel balls. Look for them in several flavors at your local grocery store.
They're a good source of protein and they keep well in the freezer. After reheating in the microwave or baking in the oven to produce a crispy coating, they're ready to enjoy with classic Mediterranean spreads such as hummus, guacamole, tzatziki, or baba ganoush. Include a few carrot sticks, celery sticks, or pepper strips for a quick and healthy mini-meal.
Try them in these quick and easy meals.
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Med Diet for Families
Laura Everage, former editor of The Gourmet Retailer and busy mother of four, offers six great tips for embracing the Med Diet Lifestyle.
Oldways invites you to celebrate delicious and nutritious pasta.
Click here to see the new, four-color brochure from our Whole Grains Council.
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Falafel Salad with Yogurt Dressing 
Turn a salad into a light meal that you can assemble in just a few minutes by using falafel balls as a main ingredient. Add an assortment of fresh cut or shredded vegetables. And use any leftover dressing
as a dip for fresh vegetables.
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Falafel Pita 
Here's how to make the classic Med sandwich that is sold on street corners in many countries. You can find tahini, or sesame seed paste, at most grocery stores. Thin it with a little water to make a tasty dressing for this traditional meatless Mediterranean meal.
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Falafel Pita Sliders 
The haunting and delicious taste of these tiny sandwiches comes from ground sumac, a fruity,
tart and lemony Turkish spice. Look for it in Middle
Eastern grocery stores, where it's often combined with sesame seeds, thyme, and salt in a spice blend called za'atar, which also works well for this recipe.
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Falafel Marinara with Pasta 
Searching for an option to meatballs? Experiment with different flavors of pre-made falafel balls, paired with pasta and sauce, for a vegetarian meal that's ready in 15 minutes. Keep a supply of falafel balls in the freezer and you can always have the ingredients on hand for this easy meal.
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Fresh Fridays is a bi-weekly celebration of Mediterranean eating and living. We hope our Friday recipes will remind you just how easy and delicious eating the Mediterranean way can be.
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The Food of Spainby Claudia Roden An award-winning cookbook author and esteemed authority on Mediterranean cooking
and culinary history offers a magnificent journey into the heart of Spanish cooking,
with hundreds of recipes for regional and classical dishes. |
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