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When you are out shopping, the experience should be easy. Mediterranean recipes use great, simple ingredients and recipes that are not complex to create beautiful and flavorful dishes that are healthy. Most of your shopping should be done in the outside aisles of the grocery store in produce and fresh meats, seafood, and cheeses. You will also need to visit the bread and grain aisles, where you will fine brown rice, couscous, and other whole grains. When at all possible, purchase organic and locally produced ingredients. Many towns have farmer’s markets during warmer months, and even select grocery stores may carry meat that is locally sourced.
Salads are going to be one of the staple meals in your household now and are so simple to make. I always stock up on spinach, almond slices, feta or goat cheese, dried cranberries, olives, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and other produce that may look good the day I am shopping. You can even eat salads on this meal that aren’t necessarily a Mediterranean flavor, such as cobb salads with some modifications such as no cheddar cheese, oriental salads, and more.
You can also have salads as a large entrée with fish like salmon or shrimp, grilled chicken, or other lean meat added. Some other great ingredients to add to salads include walnuts, radishes, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, figs, avocado, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and olive oil.
You can also make your carbs more dynamic as well. If you are eating a baked potato, add Greek yogurt rather than sour cream and butter. Garlic mashed potatoes and rosemary potatoes roasted in olive oil are other great examples of how to get your carbs from potatoes. You can also purchase whole grain pasta, brown rice, and couscous. Rice is always delicious with some vegetables added.
In Mediterranean cooking, you are going to use several different marinades and dressings. Olive oil is the most popular and cost-effective, but extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is the highest quality. Learning how to make my own salad dressings with olive oil was one of my favorite parts of cooking with the Mediterranean diet. Mixing red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar with EVOO makes for a very flavorful dressing for salads. There are also many recipes for sunflower oil dressing using lemon juice, tomatoes, honey, and various herbs. You can make your dressing sweet or spicy, ensuring that your salad never gets boring or dull.
Oatmeal and fruit make a great breakfast meal, so stock up on these at the grocery store as well. Any fruit you like can be a part of the Mediterranean diet, but berries and pears are especially great for you and can be found in many of the recipes from the region. Another great breakfast option is Greek yogurt with fruit and granola mixed in.
