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This is Day 1 of Well’s Mediterranean Diet Week.
For me, a meal isn’t complete without a hunk of whole-wheat bread to dip into my soup, or a pile of brown rice to soak up my curry. Whole grains provide sustenance and comfort.
And lucky for us, they’re a main feature of the Mediterranean diet, which is an approach to eating that emphasizes whole, mostly plant-based foods.
Whole grains are different from refined grains in that they contain all three parts of a grain kernel: the starchy endosperm, which provides carbohydrates, protein and some B vitamins and minerals; the germ, rich in healthy fats and vitamins; and the bran, a concentrated source of fiber, minerals and B vitamins.
When we eat whole grains, the fiber and healthy fats slow digestion, resulting in smaller spikes and dips in blood sugar. Fiber can also reduce blood cholesterol levels, support a healthy gut and lower the risk of developing colorectal cancer, cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Aside from great nutrition, whole grains add a variety of flavors and textures to any meal: the nutty complexity of farro, the heartiness of barley and the crunch of oats toasted in granola or on top of a fruit crisp.
Below, we offer strategies for eating more whole grains, along with some recipes selected by our colleagues at NYT Cooking.
What to keep in your pantry
To help you meet your whole-grain goals, try stocking up on these affordable and shelf-stable basics:
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Whole-grain, low-sugar breakfast cereals like shredded wheat, muesli and wheat flakes
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Whole-grain bread
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Whole-grain crackers to dunk into hummus or top with cheese
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Popcorn (consider popping it yourself so you can control the ingredients)
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Dried grains like millet, farro, brown rice, quinoa, bulgur and barley to use in main dishes, as simple sides or as additions to soups and salads
Meal ideas that center whole grains
Once you have some ingredients on hand, you get to start playing around with recipes.
For each day of our Mediterranean diet series, we and our colleagues at NYT Cooking have selected a few recipes that incorporate the ingredients we’re highlighting. This is not intended to be a meal plan, but rather inspiration for how to include more of these healthful foods in your week.
For breakfast, you might have whole-wheat toast with peanut butter and a side of fruit, plain yogurt with fruit and granola, or a steaming bowl of oatmeal topped with nuts and dried fruit. You could try Martha Rose Shulman’s cozy bulgur maple porridge, or Melissa Clark’s granola with dried apricots and pistachios; the not-so-secret ingredient, Melissa says, is olive oil, the favored oil of the Mediterranean diet (more on that on Day 5).
Lunch could be a sandwich on whole-wheat bread — maybe made with cheese, avocado, hummus, lettuce and tomato — or leftover veggies wrapped in a whole-grain tortilla. But if you have time to cook, Yewande Komolafe’s toasted millet salad with cucumber, avocado and lemon is light and packed with flavor. Or try Sohla El-Waylly’s quinoa and broccoli spoon salad, with crispy raw broccoli and crunchy pecans to complement the fluffy quinoa.
For dinner, I’m trying to break my usual bread-and-rice routine to cook some whole grains I don’t use often enough. This could be as simple as quinoa or millet with a side of veggies and steamed fish. Or maybe Kay Chun’s baked barley risotto with mushrooms and carrots or Yasmin Fahr’s farro with blistered tomatoes, pesto and spinach. For the chilliest January nights, I’m thinking of Melissa Clark’s turkey, farro and chickpea soup. Join me?
This is Day 2 of Well’s Mediterranean Diet Week. Start at the beginning here.
I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know: Fruits and vegetables are nutritional superstars, packed with essential vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds and gut-healthy fiber.
Such nutritional riches may explain why people who regularly eat fruits and vegetables tend to live longer and have reduced risks of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer.
Yet most people in the United States don’t consume enough.
American fare tends to relegate fruits and vegetables to small portions or side dishes, like a few apple slices or florets of cooked broccoli. But in the Mediterranean diet, produce plays a starring role.
The Mediterranean diet is an approach to eating that emphasizes whole, mostly plant-based foods — with health benefits backed by decades of research. Although exact recommendations vary, it generally calls for at least one serving of fruits and one serving of vegetables at every meal (though some guidelines suggest even more). Below, we offer strategies for doing just that, along with some recipes selected by our colleagues at NYT Cooking.
What to keep on hand
During the winter, I like to stock up on whatever is in season — leafy greens, root vegetables, winter squash, citrus fruits, pears, apples. But come spring, I’ll celebrate the appearance of crisp asparagus, rhubarb, peas and strawberries.
Here’s what I look for at the supermarket:
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Fresh fruits and vegetables for snacks, salads and sides
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Canned goods to use in soups, salads and sandwiches — like pickles, olives and diced tomatoes
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Frozen fruits and vegetables that are easy to steam, stir-fry or toss into whatever you’re cooking — like peas, corn, broccoli, spinach, bell peppers, blueberries, strawberries and peaches
Aim to include a variety of produce with different colors and textures so you can get a healthy mix of nutrients.
Meal ideas that center produce
For each day of our Mediterranean diet series, we and our colleagues at NYT Cooking have selected a few recipes that incorporate the ingredients we’re highlighting. This is not intended to be a meal plan for a day, but rather inspiration for how to include more of these healthful foods in your week.
For breakfast, throw a banana, some leafy greens, frozen berries, yogurt and a handful of seeds into a quick smoothie. For mornings that call for something warm, try Mark Bittman’s more-vegetable-than-egg frittata — it’s “proof that eating well doesn’t have to be deprivational,” Mark says.
For lunch, you might have a big bowl of salad greens piled high with whatever you have around — a handful of chopped cucumber and tomatoes, a scoop of chickpeas, some leftover quinoa, a sprinkle of feta, a drizzle of olive oil.
But if you have time to cook, consider Hetty Lui McKinnon’s cashew and celery stir-fry, an “uncomplicated but elegant” dish that includes a generous amount of tofu and dark, leafy greens. There’s also Ali Slagle’s kale and butternut squash bowl with jammy eggs, where the eggs are nestled among vibrant vegetables in a bowl of brown rice.
For a quick no-recipe dinner, you might stir fry some vegetables with ground turkey and serve it over brown rice. If there’s time for soup to simmer, try Ham El-Waylly’s vegetable tortilla soup, featuring purple cabbage, sweet potato, chipotle peppers and pinto beans, topped with avocado. Or for a different set of flavors, Yewande Komolafe’s vegetable maafé — an earthy stew that “goes all in on produce” with green plantains, butternut squash and hearty greens. And for a night that calls for something fancier, Melissa Clark’s citrusy roast chicken with pears and figs, loaded with caramelized fruit and fresh herbs, is the definition of sweet and savory.
If you’re craving something sweet for dessert, consider fresh fruit — try Kay Chun’s refreshing savory fruit salad, where fresh fennel, mint and lime juice complement the natural sweetness of the fruit.
This is Day 3 of Well’s Mediterranean Diet Week. Start at the beginning here.
If I had to choose just one food to always have on hand, it probably would be lentils. They’re quick to cook and comforting; my mom’s lentil soup was a staple of my childhood. But I’d also take any of the other legumes — chickpeas, black-eyed peas, cannellini beans, kidney beans.
Legumes are a key source of plant-based protein in the Mediterranean diet; one cup of cooked beans, lentils or peas contains about 15 grams of protein — just under a quarter of the daily needs of an average adult. And research suggests that people who get more of their protein from plant (rather than animal) sources tend to live longer, healthier lives.
One cup of legumes also contains about 13 grams of fiber, or roughly half of your daily recommended amount. Fiber helps keep your digestive system running smoothly, feeds friendly gut microbes and is thought to trap cholesterol in the intestines, which may explain the research suggesting that eating legumes can lower your levels of LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol. Researchers have also linked legumes to improved blood sugar levels and reduced risks of coronary heart disease.
Legumes supply several vitamins and minerals, including iron, which is necessary for oxygen delivery to cells; magnesium, which helps regulate blood pressure and blood sugar; folate, essential for pregnancy and cell function; and vitamin E, which supports the immune system and protects against cell damage.
Mediterranean diet guidelines typically suggest having at least two or three servings of legumes per week, which can be done without having to turn on your stove.
But it’s fun — and pretty darn easy — to cook with legumes, too. And our colleagues at NYT Cooking have a wealth of recipes for us to try.
What to keep on hand
Beans, lentils and peas are excellent pantry staples because they’re usually inexpensive and have a long shelf life. Throw in a few refrigerated and frozen items, and you’ll have a variety of legumes to choose from.
Here’s what is always on my shopping list:
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Hummus for snacking and sandwiches (you can buy it premade or consider whipping it up yourself)
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Canned beans for quick additions to soups, salads, nachos or tacos
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Dried lentils and beans (if you’ve never cooked beans from scratch, start with our fantastic guide)
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Frozen peas and edamame
How to cook with legumes
For each day of our Mediterranean diet series, we and our colleagues at NYT Cooking have selected a few recipes that incorporate the ingredients we’re highlighting. This is not intended to be a meal plan for a day, but rather inspiration for how to include more of these healthful foods in your week.
Beans for breakfast? Yes, please. Just add a scoop of black beans to your scrambled eggs and top with salsa, or you can get a little fancier with Kay Chun’s gorgeous huevos rancheros. If you’re planning ahead, try J.J. Goode’s adaptation of Steve Sando’s simple beans on toast; cook up a batch of dried beans on the weekend, and you’ve got breakfast covered for at least a few mornings of the week ahead.
For lunch, this chickpea salad sandwich, made with canned chickpeas mashed with a creamy lemon-tahini dressing, is delicious and easy to make in advance. Lidey Heuck’s quick cherry tomato and white bean salad, with a generous hunk of whole-grain bread dipped in olive oil, also makes for a light lunch.
Two of my favorite dinner recipes are Melissa Clark’s red lentil soup and Ali Slagle’s sheet-pan feta with chickpeas and tomatoes. They’re simple to prepare from ingredients you may already have on hand — and with a green salad and good bread, they make for satisfying meals.
This is Day 4 of Well’s Mediterranean Diet Week. Start at the beginning here.
It’s time to add a bit more crunch to your diet, so let’s talk about nuts and seeds.
These nutritional powerhouses are rich in essential vitamins and minerals, as well as protein and gut-healthy fiber. Just a handful of almonds, for instance, provides about six grams of protein and three grams of fiber, about the amount you’d get from eating an egg and three-quarters of a cup of blueberries.
Nuts and seeds are also impressive sources of heart-healthy fats, which have been linked to improved cholesterol levels and protection from cardiovascular disease.
One recent review of more than three dozen studies, for instance, found that people who ate a little more than a handful (or about one ounce) of nuts and seeds every day had a roughly 20 percent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those who ate little to none.
The Mediterranean diet has traditionally included a generous amount of nuts and seeds. Guidelines vary from three servings per week to one to two servings per day.
Whatever your goal, it’s easy to accomplish — whether you’re dipping apple slices into almond butter, sprinkling walnuts onto oatmeal or yogurt, or scattering sunflower seeds over your salad. Just keep in mind that nuts and seeds are relatively high in calories; a one-ounce serving of almonds has 170 calories and two tablespoons of peanut butter has 204 calories. That can add up fast.
What to keep in your pantry
Aim to have at least a few different types of nuts and seeds on hand for nibbling and using in recipes:
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Raw or roasted tree nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans and cashews; as well as peanuts (peanuts are technically legumes, but their nutritional profile is more like tree nuts)
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Seeds like flax, chia, sesame and pumpkin; and pine nuts (which are not nuts, despite their name)
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Peanut and other nut butters
How to incorporate nuts and seeds into meals
For each day of our Mediterranean diet series, we and our colleagues at NYT Cooking have selected a few recipes that embrace the ingredients we’re highlighting. This is not intended to be a meal plan for a day, but rather inspiration for how to include more of these healthful foods in your week.
For breakfast, you might add a tablespoon of chia or flaxseeds to your smoothie, or smear almond butter onto a whole-grain English muffin. With a little planning, Genevieve Ko’s overnight oats are a perfect vehicle for whatever nuts or seeds your heart desires.
For lunch, I am not above a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole grain bread with a side of carrot and celery sticks. But if I have a few minutes, I’ll make Sue Li’s cucumber salad with roasted peanuts and chile. The “velvety peanut sauce” and crunchy peanut topping complement the “snappy” cucumbers used in this recipe. Or I’ll try Melissa Clark’s lemony asparagus salad with shaved cheese and nuts.
For dinner, a sprinkle of nuts or seeds will make just about any cooked vegetable more interesting, as in Martha Rose Shulman’s Swiss chard with currants and pine nuts or Colu Henry’s roasted cauliflower with feta, almonds and olives.
For a main dish, look no further than Jocelyn Ramirez’s mole verde, an “earthy sauce” that blends generous measures of sesame seeds, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and almonds with seared chiles and fresh tomatillos, romaine lettuce and herbs. Serve with sautéed mushrooms and a protein of your choice, like tofu steaks or salmon.
For a light dessert (or tomorrow’s breakfast), try this chia seed pudding topped with almonds. It’s a nutrient-dense treat with “a tapioca-like texture and gently sweet flavor.”
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