By Christine Salins.
There’s much to be admired about the Mediterranean diet, not least being that it’s so healthy. And, of course, it tastes so good. So, if you were wanting to follow a Mediterranean diet, what ingredients would you include?
Interestingly, the list that Mary Valle includes at the start of Mediterranean Lifestyle Cooking is not confined to ingredients such as olive oil, vegetables, fish and legumes.
It also lists ingredients such as “learn to cook”, “strong sense of community”, and “share meals with family and friends at the dinner table”.
For as Valle points out, it is these less tangible factors that, along with the food, account for why the Mediterranean region has some of the highest life expectancies in the world.
Valle grew up in Australia in a Greek household, and her first cookbook was My Greek Kitchen.
In Mediterranean Lifestyle Cooking, she broadens her horizons, although there is still very much a Greek flavour to this one too, with a preponderance of Greek recipes and a couple of stunning Santorini pictures that will have you booking the next flight to the Greek islands.
There are pizza and pasta dishes, of course, and some Spanish and French dishes too. Generally speaking it’s the sort of food that Valle probably enjoyed growing up and that she turns out in her own home kitchen.
None of the recipes are lengthy or complicated – it’s just wholesome, satisfying food that abounds in the flavours of the Mediterranean and highlights everything that is good about the Mediterranean diet.
Eggplant Rolls with Feta, Olives and Sundried Tomato
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
60 ml olive oil
2 large eggplants, trimmed and sliced into 1½ cm thickness lengthways
60 g feta cheese, crumbled
60 g kalamata olives, pitted and diced
12 sundried tomatoes, diced small handful of basil leaves
4 teaspoons parsley, fined chopped salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Method
In a bowl combine the feta, olives, sundried tomatoes, parsley and mint. Prepare the eggplant and brush the slices with olive oil. Heat a frying pan with a little extra olive oil over a medium heat and fry the eggplant slices, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until cooked. You can also cook the eggplant over a grill or barbeque if you prefer. Allow it to sit on some absorbent paper while cooking the remainder of the eggplant. Season to taste.
Lay out each eggplant slice and place a heaped spoonful of the feta mixture at the wider end and roll up tightly. Place onto a serving platter and drizzle a little more olive oil over, a grind of black pepper and some extra herbs.
From: Mediterranean Lifestyle Cooking, by Mary Valle. Published by New Holland Publishers, RRP $35.
