Walnut and Cucumber Gazpacho

Mediterranean Diet Recipes PDF

A light, refreshing, chilled soup.

Ingredients:

• 4 English cucumbers roughly chopped
• ½ bunch flat leaf parsley
• ½ bunch mint
• 1 bunch scallion roughly chopped
• ½ small red onion, peeled
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ⅓ cup champagne vinegar
• 6 ounces plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 cup toasted walnuts
• 1 cup ice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

• After chopping, salt the cucumbers and let sit one hour. Drain off liquid.
• Combine all the ingredients in a blender.

• Serve in a chilled bowl and garnish with meyer lemon oil, if desired

Notes:

• Champagne vinegar is a mild vinegar; it can be substituted with a white wine or a rice vinegar.
• Meyer lemons are sweeter than traditional lemons; the oil is very expensive. If you choose to add this garnish, you could use a few drops of fresh squeezed meyer lemon juice. Or, for a more acidic taste/flavor, you could substitute a regular lemon.
• Greek yogurt, low-fat or fat-free, will yield a slightly thicker soup

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* Recipe by Duskie Estes, Owner and Executive Chef of ZAZU Restaurant + Farm, (courtesy of the California Walnut Board). Accessed August 2018.

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Elizabeth Gollub, PhD, MPH, RD School of Nutrition and Food Sciences

 

Hummus

Appetizer, snack, or sandwich spread

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups (500gm) Chickpeas, cooked
• 2 garlic cloves -- peeled and crushed
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 teaspoon cumin
• 3 tablespoon tahini (sesame seed paste)
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 bunch parsley (it’s used for decoration; you will only need a little)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil for the garnish.

Instructions:

• If using dried chickpeas, to cook them: soak the dried chickpeas in warm water for 12 hours with 1/3 teaspoon of baking soda (ideally leave them to soak overnight). Fill a cooking pot with water and bring it to a boil, then add chickpeas; leave them cooking over low heat for about 2 hours -- until tender. Remove them from the heat, drain and leave them to cool. Reserve some of the cooking water and a few chick peas (for garnish). If using canned chickpeas, rinse and drain them.
• Mash the cooked chickpeas in a food processor adding approximately 50ml (3 tablespoons) of the cooking liquid; if canned chickpeas were used, add water or lemon juice.
• Mix/mash the peeled and crushed garlic cloves, salt, and cumin in a mortar and pestle until you get a paste. Add the tahini and the lemon juice.
• Add this paste to the mashed chickpeas mixture and mix it all until it becomes a creamy puree.
• Spoon the hummus into a serving bowl and use the back of a spoon to sculpt a shallow well in the center of the hummus. Add the few whole chickpeas that you had reserved, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with the paprika, and add parsley to decorate.

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Recipe taken from Tasty Mediterranean; Tastymediterraneo.com. Accessed August 2018.

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Elizabeth Gollub, PhD, MPH, RD School of Nutrition and Food Sciences

 

Spanish Garlic Shrimp

A great tapa or small meal.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 teaspoon sweet Spanish paprika
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Instructions:

• Pour the oil into a large sauté pan and add the garlic and chili flakes.
• Turn the heat up to medium high. As the pan heats up, the oil will slowly get infused with the flavor of the garlic and chili (do not let the garlic brown).
• Once the oil is hot and the garlic is fragrant, add the shrimp to the pan. Season them with the paprika, salt and pepper.
• Cook the shrimp about 2 minutes, until they just turn pink, stirring often.
• Add the sherry and lemon juice and cook another 2-3 minutes until the liquid is reduced and shrimp are cooked.
• Sprinkle the parsley on top. Serve with crusty bread for soaking up all of the delicious sauce.

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Recipe taken from The Foodie Physician.comRecipe taken from The Foodie Physician.com; Dining with the Doc: Spanish Garlic Shrimp. Accessed August 2018.

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Elizabeth Gollub, PhD, MPH, RD School of Nutrition and Food Sciences

 

Easy Mediterranean Salad

Great on its own; great on a grain

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 cup red onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup black olives, sliced
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 3 tablespoons feta, crumble
• 3 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes, julienne cut
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and Fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, toss together cherry tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, red onions, black olives, cucumber, feta, and sundried tomato.
• in a small bowl, whisk olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
• Pour dressing over salad mixture and toss.
• Top with fresh parsley

Notes:

• Substituting sliced grape tomatoes for the diced cherry tomatoes works well in this salad.
• Kalamata olives are the recommended black olives in this salad.
• For an even greater burst of color and even more vegetables, add an orange bell pepper.

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Recipe by Olivia; taken from Primavera Kitchen.com. Accessed August 2018

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Elizabeth Gollub, PhD, MPH, RD School of Nutrition and Food Sciences