Fresh Fridays 
Spring Cooking
Spring has arrived! It's the perfect time to tune in to your home meal planning and make sure the foods you're choosing to buy and cook are bright, crisp, and full of promise. Think back over the meals you ate last week. Have you been enjoying a variety of tastes and textures? 

Since the Mediterranean Diet is all about eating an abundance of fruits and vegetables, it's easy to include plenty of color along with delicious flavors in even the simplest meals, and reap the rewards of good nutrition, too.

Find ways to use fresh baby spinach, firm new red, yellow, and purple potatoes, bright colored bell peppers, and young onions, in concert with pantry staples such as tuna, canned beans, olives, herbs, and spices. 

Take a few minutes to browse among the flavored oils and vinegars at your supermarket, too. The selection keeps growing, and these new products provide a great way to add refreshing and different tastes to your food. Look for olive oils flavored with citrus or herbs, plus oils made from nuts and seeds. Try spray oils, too, which can help you use just a thin film of oil when saut�ing and are very handy when preparing vegetables for oven roasting. 

Click on the titles and photos below to link to Oldways recipes.

Web links

Sampling Day 2012 Plan Now to Celebrate Whole Grains on
April 4!
  


Oldways Table Blog  Visit our blog to read about ideas for building great salads and trying new foods and flavors.  
Spring Ni�oise Potato Salad  Spring Niçoise

No need to peel the potatoes for this tasty salad. Combined with asparagus and olives, new potatoes make a delicious dish for a spring buffet party or a light lunch. You can also use fresh or frozen whole green beans.

Mediterranean Olive Toss Olive toss

All the bright flavors of the Mediterranean come together in this tasty medley.  Serve it with pasta, rice, or other vegetables, or include it in a sandwich or wrap. This mixture can be made in advance and will keep for up to seven days in the refrigerator. 

 

Fresh Fruit Salad with  fruitsalad
Orange Vinaigrette

Here's a healthy and refreshing salad that uses a citrus-flavored olive oil and champagne vinegar for a clean, fresh taste. Use any combination of fruits: your choice of oranges, apples, kiwi, melon, bananas, pineapple, or strawberries.


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.   

To learn more about the Mediterranean Diet, please visit:    

 Mediterranean Foods Alliance (MFA)     

 

 

     

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Let the old ways be your guide to good health and well-being.

 www.oldwayspt.org 

12 ways to use dates  
Med Diet USA
Farm to Table 6th Annual Farm to Table Conference
David L. Lawrence Convention Center
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Join farmers and foodies for hands-on cooking demos, local food tastings, and discussions about where our food comes from, and
why it's important to support your area growers.
Oldways bookstore

In Pursuit of Garlic

In Pursuit of Garlic
 by Liz Primeau

Read about garlic's role in history, art, medicine, and science, and discover the author's favorite ways to use it in the kitchen. Plus, pick up some tips for growing your own. Primeau is a former Canadian Gardening television show host.