by Enrico Forte
Its cuisine is a mix of aromas and flavors as a result of different cultures: Greeks, Arabs, Spanish, Italian and French.
The word that better explains this diet is: “The unique plate”. It means mixing a single plate with different nutritionals.
The classic example are recipes with “Pasta”; Vegetables; Species and Extra virgin Olive oil. In a single plate you can receive the benefits of different foods.
The most known examples are the Arab “Cous Cous” or the Spanish “Paella”.
It’s not only taste but also health. By eating fresh foods like fruit and veggies you could:
- Have anti-oxidants effects
- Prevent heart diseases
- Reduce cancer risks
- Avoid the risk of Alzheimer
- Live longer and healthier
Fish is rich of omega-3 fatty acids. They help protect against cancer, high blood pressure, strokes and heart disease.
Nuts (especially almonds) are a good sources of protein, fiber and antioxidants (Vitamin E and selenium). They are also high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (omega 3) which lower LDL cholesterol.
Pasta is a healthy food that has a low glycemic index of 41. Most pasta is made from semolina flour. It does not promote weight gain.
Olive oil is rich of monounsaturated fatty acids that offers protection against heart disease by controlling LDL (“bad”) cholesterol while raising HDL (the “good” cholesterol).
Tomatoes contain large amounts of vitamins (C,A) and potassium. They are rich of lycopene, a substance that act as an antioxidant, neutralizing free radicals cells in the body.
The best way to learn how a thing works is to try to do it, so here you are 3 simple plates you could cook home-made and verify yourself these health benefits.
1 ° Pasta with Tuna ragù
Ingredients:
Pasta Macaroni 600gr.
Fresh Tuna 200gr.
Tomato sauce 200gr.
Onion 1
Zucchini 1
Oil, Salt and Pepper
Preparation:
– Cook the tuna in a pan with tomato sauce, oil and onion
– Cut the zucchini in rolls and fry (after having left them with a little salt for 5 minutes)
– Boil pasta al dente and season the sauce with tuna and fried zucchini
2 ° Kid Goat with almonds
Ingredients:
Kid Goat 3kg.
Onion 1
Large ripe tomatoes 3
Almond 300 gr.
Oil, Salt and Pepper
Preparation:
– Cut into pieces the kid Goat, wash and dry
– Put it to brown in pan with grated onion, tomatoes without seeds, olive oil, salt and pepper. Maintaining low heat for about 45 minutes.
– Meanwhile pest in a mortar almonds and reduce in cream
– When the kid goat is cooked paid in the saucepan cream with almonds for about 1 minute.
– Serve hot
3 ° Turkish Salad
Ingredients:
Onion 2
Potatoes 3
Eggplants 3
Peppers 3
Tomatoes 4
Garlic cloves 2
Oil, Salt and Pepper
Preparation:
– Arrange on a baking tray all the vegetables
– The different foods have different cooking time, so remove from the heat the peppers first, then tomatoes, and so on.
– Wash their skins, remove their seeds, cut and put them in a salad
– Dress with abundant oil, salt, pepper and garlic.
– Leave and serve cold
These 3 recipes are only simple ideas of what the Mediterranean diet is.
As you can see they join together taste with health benefits of their substances.
It’s simple, go in your supermarket and try to do them at home…you’ll learn new ways to stay healthy and maintain your weight.
Author Biography: Enrico Forte is a professional nutrition expert. He is the author of the Mediterranean Book, a website that provides simple tips and tricks to start living healthy and lose weight with the Mediterranean diet.