May is “Mediterranean Month”
Oldways and the Mediterranean Foods Alliance announce that May is Mediterranean Month. It’s a way to promote healthy Mediterranean-style eating.
I can’t think of any other organization that’s done more than Oldways to spread the gospel about the Mediterranean diet.
In this context, “diet” refers to a habitual way of eating rather than a weight-loss program.
But who is Mediterranean Foods Alliance? From their website, MFA . . .
. . . is a group of devoted partners (health professionals, scientists, food companies, retailers, culinary experts, and media) working together to help people eat better with the Mediterranean Diet.
Mediterranean Month features include:
- Mediterranean diet recipe contest (with prizes!)
- 7-day Mediterranean diet meal plan
- budget-friendly recipes
- Mediterranean Month Calendar Tips for incorporating the Mediterranean diet into your life
Click on the links in the first paragraph for details.
Steve Parker, M.D.
May 11th, 2009 at 9:50 am
One of the great things about the Mediterranean diet is it is so delicious. It is rare to find something so good for you and so enjoyable.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Ha! Maybe that is why I’ve been craving Greek food.
May 14th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
It’s a way of life for me
I enjoy the food, and the benefits of heightened energy and health-related side effects.
My only regret is that it took me until a year or so ago to realize it. And there are still a lot of bad habits that I brought over from America with me, like an addition to burgers and fries that no matter how hard I try, refuses to be quenched without a monthly indulgence.
I’ve been on an Italian kick lately as well, as the girls over at Stile Mediterraneo (http://stilemediterraneo.blogspot.com/) posts regular recipes on their blog, and they specifically adhere to the Mediterranean way of live, being from the Puglia region of Italy themselves. One of the sisters is a cardiologist, and the other is a professional olive oil taster, and they know their stuff. Absolutely FABULOUS recipes to help kick-start your Mediterranean Diet if you need some extra inspiration.
May 14th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Re: Stile Mediterraneo:
Gee, I’d never even heard of a “professional olive oil sommelier” (that’s sister Cinza). I gotta get out more. The recipes DO look great.
May 14th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I’d never heard of it either until she contacted me a few weeks back in regards to my “Get to know Olive Oil” article over at Green Diva Mom.
The recipes ARE delicious. I’ve been regularly consuming the bean soup recipe, although I had to use a different kind of bean because we cannot seem to find lima beans here. Still, I’m on my fourth week of including the bean soup into my daily diet.
This week I’m actually doing buckwheat for breakfast, cooked fluffy like rice, drizzled with olive oil and mixed with some white brine cheese (feta). Lunch is either hummus + tomatoes and cucumbers with some wheat bread, then I have the bean soup for my evening meal.
I’d say the one area I don’t adhere to in the Diet is fish consumption. It’s not that fish isn’t readily available here….it is….I just prefer to eat chicken. Most of it has to do with fish being ridiculously priced because we aren’t on the seaside, so it’s imported. But still…chicken is a fairly healthy meat, and I make sure to eat it grilled or baked or cooked with extra virgin olive oil. I think I eat chicken 4 times a week, which is probably twice as often as I need to. Red meat we only do 1-2 times a month, and I rarely eat pork these days, despite my love of bacon. Whimper!
May 15th, 2009 at 9:10 am
TW, I’ll have to try that soup. I can’t imagine I’d like it with lima beans anyway.
Canned tuna and herring are reasonably priced in the U.S. I don’t worry about the mercury and PCBs. White/albacore tuna has more of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids than other canned tunas.
May 15th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I just used a generic white bean, boiled it for a few hours to soften it up, then I use a hand-held blender to paste it in the pan, using about 1/2 of the water from the beans. I add a medium sized onion, a couple cloves of garlic, salt and pepper, and then I let it simmer for another 2-3 hours (a variation, but still).
I do wish I could find lima beans, though. They just don’t seem to have them in Bulgaria, and we haven’t been able to find an importer yet, if one even exists.
I love tuna. The problem is it’s ridiculously priced here (something like 5 leva a can, which is 3.5 USD). I can remember going to Safeway when they ran tuna on sale and getting cans for 1 dollar apiece even as late as 2007. I actually love fish, period, but it’s just ridiculously priced in Sofia, for some reason or another. Hell, I can get beef cheaper than I can get fish, which I don’t quite understand considering we are only a few hours from a sea in either direction (Black sea or Mediterranean). I *LOVE* white tuna in particular.
My wife and I both agreed that if we can start making an extra bit of money here and there we are going to start treating ourselves to fish more frequently. I love a good cedar-grilled salmon, or a nice thick tuna steak. But when it costs 15-20 dollars for just enough for one meal for the two of us, it’s just not worth it. Whereas chicken is extremely cheap, so we eat that much more frequently.