Transition to Mediterranean Diet?

October 21, 2023 9:44 AM

Trying to make some dietary changes and I am looking for tips about how people have made small changes or subsitutions to move towards a Mediterranean diet pattern. I’ve seen some good Asks on Med recipes, but I’m more interested in the incremental changes people have made. Dare I say “hacks”? I do, I do say hacks. So please tell me your med diet hacks!
posted by haptic_avenger to Food & Drink (20 answers total)

When planning lunches and dinners, I first pick the vegetable(s) that the meal will be centred around.
posted by heatherlogan at 9:53 AM on October 21, 2023 [10 favorites]

Just do one meal at a time. So just try doing all breakfast meals as Mediterranean. Or just do it a few times a week. Say, pick your least stressful morning of the week and make that your official Mediterranean breakfast day. Then just expand out from there after a few weeks.

You can also try just making Mediterranean snacks at first, so snacks don't have a set time of day per se, so it's easier to eat them whenever.

Small steps can get you to any destination.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:53 AM on October 21, 2023 [5 favorites]

I started working bowls into my meal preps. For bowls that are leaning a little heavy (to my eye/gut) on starches, I use fewer starches and serve the bowl over a fistful of shredded lettuce, cabbage, spring mix, etc.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:18 AM on October 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

I'm using olive oil in place of butter for many things...for frying, and of course for salad dressings. I had a Greek boss for many years and she introduced me to the olive oils, lemon, and oregano which they use extensively. I'm not a huge fish eater outside of tuna salad occasionally. Fortunately I love most vegetables and can make a meal of them...Am getting into grains lately too.
posted by Czjewel at 10:47 AM on October 21, 2023 [3 favorites]

I eat vegan before dinner, and also often make a big what I call “salad base” like a flavourful bean salad, barley or cracked wheat salad, etc. that I then drop into a bowl of greens for lunch.

I try not to (ha ha ha) eat and do other things. This is part of the Blue Zone lifestyle. To help me with that, I’ve purchased just a few beautiful and favourite bowls, plates, etc. I serve myself in those and try to enjoy the time it takes to eat from them.
posted by warriorqueen at 10:55 AM on October 21, 2023 [5 favorites]

Oh, and pre-chop veggies. I chop up a bunch of peppers, zucchini, cucumber, broccoli, tomatoes, kohlrabi, wash and chop greens/cabbage, dice onions, and grate carrots. Having those ready to go plus some defrosted peas or edamame, and cooked chopped beets (or any combo) makes a big difference. I have divided containers I fill on weekends which are usually gone midweek, but it’s a start!

If that’s too much, look for the equivalents pre-washed etc. at the store -julienned carrots, stir-fry mixes, ready-to-roast veg mixes.
posted by warriorqueen at 11:02 AM on October 21, 2023 [3 favorites]

When I switched to a vegan diet, I did the one meal at a time thing. So I started with vegan for breakfast, then added lunch, then vegan at home, then vegan all the time. So a variation of that is one way to go about it.

The thing that makes the Mediterranean diet a little trickier is that there's no clear definition. It's sort of like eating in moderation, which some studies have shown just ends up meaning eating whatever you want. So I'd consider defining what you mean by Mediterranean and then setting up goals according to that. So if it means eating more beans, you could say you're going to have six meals a week with beans (or three or whatever isn't totally overwhelming for you). Or you're going to have fruit for dessert five days a week. Or you're going to make sure half your dinner plate is vegetables five days a week. Or you're going to have hearty salads for lunch five days a week (I love beans in salads). You could also have goals around finding recipes - like you're going to try two new Mediterranean recipes every week.

My suggestions are reflecting that I do way better with clear, specific goals. If I have some sort of vague "I'm going to eat more vegetables," I end up doing pretty much nothing. YMMV of course.
posted by FencingGal at 11:27 AM on October 21, 2023 [7 favorites]

Helps to follow insta accounts that have easy med adaptable recipes. I use a lot: natsnourishments, kalememaybe, collegenutritionist (she's annoyingly weight loss focused and eats a lot of meat but has a lot of quick tasty recipes and always offers a veg solution), thefullhelping. I use olive oil wherever I would have used butter. I use chickpea or lentil or whole wheat pasta in place of white pasta, brown rice instead of white, wholegrain crackers. We started med diet in January and it's been much easier and better than I expected.

Oh, and we define med diet as: no added sugars, no refined grains, no butter or cream, no meat (fish obvs ok), enjoy fruits, veggies, wine, legumes, and other dairy is fine as well.
posted by shadygrove at 11:30 AM on October 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

A couple things that helped us a lot were:

- if you have a starch + veggie/meat dish that you really love (for us it was a big bowl of pasta with some sautéed veggies and sausages)... try quadrupling, or quintupling, the veggie, and halving the pasta, while keeping the flavor profile the same. Your net carbohydrate load will go way down and you keep the flavors you love. If you find you can swap the starch for a protein (beans, tofu?), so much the better.

- Get a good olive oil and an everyday olive oil. Use 'em in everything.

- Get a good vinegar and make your own salad dressing (oil + vinegar + Dijon mustard + pinch of salt; stir with fork, shake in a jar, or blend, depending on how fussy you want to be)

- Buy the peeled garlic if dealing with the bulbs is too much of a pain

- Treat herbs (parsley, cilantro if you like it) and citrus (limes & lemons) as staples, to be replaced as needed, and don't beat yourself up if some of it goes bad. And then, where you might have reached for cheese, or mayo, or bacon, or some other animal fat, hit the dish with chopped herbs and citrus. Almost everything is improved by a hit of herb and acid.

- Lean into the umami boosters that aren't meat and parmesan... roasted tomatoes, mushrooms, miso, pomegranate molasses, oyster sauce, soy sauce. A tablespoon of one of these can give you a big hit of the depth that you might be missing when you remove animal protein and fat.


And for us, the other thing that really worked was going to the farmer's market and really, really leaning into seasonal, good produce. A big pile of ripe fruit on the counter made the whole deal easier for our kids. Depending on where you live that can be harder, I know.

If you're the kind of person who is inspired by cookbooks, I strongly recommend Deborah Madison's latest (as well as Vegetable Literacy), and most of Yotam Ottolenghi's books. Yonan's Cool Beans is good if you're looking for more legume ideas.
posted by graphweaver at 12:18 PM on October 21, 2023 [8 favorites]

1. I have a chart of what I consider within and out of bounds on my fridge so I see it regularly.

2. I have an olive oil subscription so I have to use it so I didn't get a backlog.

3. Same with beans!

4. This is really specific to my area, but my local grocer sells these quick-cook grain packets that are awesome.

5. I try and do fish once a week. When I go to the supermarket, I buy whatever looks easy to prepare, and then I make it first so that it doesn't get stinky in the fridge. They usually have something that's already marinated that has cooking instructions on it.

6. Picking a fun cookbook and working through it. I like Six Seasons, Cool Beans, and Tenderheart, for instance.
posted by tofu_crouton at 1:14 PM on October 21, 2023

Oh 2 more:

7. While my partner eats fruit regularly, for some reason it's an afterthought for me. Now I cut up fruit when I get it so that I have a "fruit salad" ready in the fridge. I can pull that tupperware out for every meal as a dessert.

8. Clear food storage containers, well-labeled.
posted by tofu_crouton at 1:16 PM on October 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

One thing I did for a while and should really get back to - I found you can use neat olive oil as a spread, instead of butter. Stick it in a shallow tupperware tub, and put it in the freezer to set. Once it's done that, you can transfer it to the fridge, and it'll stay about the right consistency to be spreadable. It's best with an oil that doesn't have too strong a flavour - not the green extra-virgin, just a relatively bland yellow oil.

Just remember not to leave it out on the counter too long or it will liquefy.

(Hm, I'm writing this and suddenly thinking I maybe read somewhere that Americans don't actually spread butter on the bread in sandwiches, they use mayo? In which case this is maybe less useful. Works for toast as well, though don't be too liberal with it as you'll find it dripping all down you because it melts quickly. But the solidifying makes it easier to spread in the first place).
posted by penguin pie at 1:29 PM on October 21, 2023

I think sometimes people get tripped up on the “Mediterranean” tag because it’s easy to start thinking about souvlaki or pasta. If it helps, the South Beach diet is pretty much the same, as long as you skip the first “phase” of it and go straight to phase three (or two if weight loss is part of your goals, and you’re eager to get cracking on it). I mention this because with South Beach, there’s a structure (through the book) and lots of recipes online. Whole grains, veg, lean protein.
posted by cotton dress sock at 3:37 PM on October 21, 2023

At restaurants I am a satisficer — I’m not strict anything, but I look at the dishes closest to my ideal first and imagine eating them and if yeah, that would be tasty, I’d be full, I stop there. No looking at everything on the menu trying to find either the most luxurious or the most virtuous. Emotionally much easier for me.
posted by clew at 4:14 PM on October 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Maybe the first thing to think about is wether you can share most meals with someone? I've noticed I'm more mindful of what I eat when I'm not alone. Obviously that isn't always possible with different schedules etc., but for instance, I once had regular shared dinners with two of my friends, and I ate much better then, and when my children were still children, I felt obligated to make healthy meals and eat them together with them, which helped my own discipline.

Two years ago I realized that my eating habits had deteriorated horribly, and I started a monthly spreadsheet, so I could see what I was eating. I was not counting calories, and I wasn't shaming myself. But the awareness helped a lot. I still count the number of fruit and veg a day, the amount of fiber I consume, and how many different herbs, vegetables, spices and fruits I eat a week. And while I am not at the five-a-day fruit and veg, or the 25 grams of fiber recommended for women, on average I am far closer than I was in 2021. I am eating 30 different vegetable products, which is the goal, because that turned out to be easy once I was mindful about it. One of the things I read back then was to not go too fast, because it might cause a lot of discomfort if you do. Maybe I am going too slow, but it is worth noting not to change your diet overnight. And I feel much better now than I did then.

Don't be (very) afraid of carbs. Back when I was young, I was in Sardinia a couple of times, and lived with a family, so we had completely traditional food. Which was always 3-4 courses: antipasti, primi (pasta or soup or rice), secondi (main dish) and dessert (often cheese and fruit). The point was that all of these servings were smallish. So you ended up not eating much pasta and also with the different vegs being the largest element of the meal. There would be vegetables in the antipasti, often in the primi, always as a side to the main, and then almost always fruit for dessert.

A really helpful thing I'm doing is to gradually cut down on the meat in otherwise normal recipes. So for instance this evening, I made beef and broccoli, but I used half the normal amount of beef. Or make a "shepherd's pie" where you use less meat over time and add in lentils as a replacement. Today I am at a place where I actually prefer a vegetarian pie with just lentils, no meat.

In general, eat the legumes. I often have Ful Mudammas for breakfast or lunch. They are tasty, healthy and filling. Or make chili for lunch or dinner. I love beans and rice for breakfast too, but they should probably be more of a treat.

Eat frozen vegs. If you have not been used to prepping a lot of vegetables, that is often the hardest part of changing your diet. If you are tired after work, the last thing you want to spend time on is cleaning and chopping vegetables. For me, specially frozen peas, frozen haricots verts and frozen spinach are life-savers. They are all excellent quality, very nourishing, and easy to prepare. Again, start slow and gradually evolve. My favorite comfort food is pasta with gorgonzola. During lockdown I was eating it several times a week. Sometimes I put an egg in it. That's 0 vegetables and 2 grams of fiber pr. serving. But now I've found that I can serve one of those frozen veggies as a side, or an appetizer, with very little effort. Then have an apple for dessert and things look much better in my spreadsheet.

In the Northern hemisphere, we are heading into winter, and it is much harder to start a Mediterranean diet now than in July. This is why I'm pointing to the frozen veg. But there are lots of lovely root vegetables. This is a glorious alternative to a roast dinner, that has become a bit of a thing among my daughter's friends. And this is also very popular in our household. Just the other day, I roasted the aubergines in the air fryer instead of deep-frying them, and it was really good.

All the soups are good too, with a slice of whole grain bread.

Always have fruit on your kitchen counter.

Try to get into the habit of having some sort of cold prepared vegetable meze/tapas/antipasti in your fridge, that you can eat for lunch and/or put on the table as starters for dinner. You can make them during weekends or buy them ready made. Like hummus, grilled, marinated vegetables, ajvar, mushrooms, gazpacho, caponata, marinated hearts of artichoke, olives, pickles and other things. I feel there is a lot of inspiration in Turkish cuisine, they have hundreds of recipes for this, but all of the Mediterranean cuisines are inspiring, and there are great things in Asian cuisines for this as well.

I also think there is a lot of inspiration in Acid Salt Fat Heat, by Samin Nosrat. It's a more scholarly book than one would think from the Netflix series, but it is really full of great ideas. Because she is Iranian, she uses herbs in great ways, and that is the last advice/hack here: using herbs as vegetables is delicious and very good for you. For instance, there is kuku sabzi, a sort of frittata that looks like a jewel, and tastes and smells amazing.
posted by mumimor at 5:18 PM on October 21, 2023 [4 favorites]

If you are cooking at home, streamline things! If this is a flavor profile you haven't used much and you are going to have to buy some new herbs/oils/canned legumes/starches, put them all together in one cabinet that is easy to access.* I bought some za'atar and use it whenever a recipe calls for any of the constituent spices (oregano, marjoram, summer savory and thyme).

Freeze minced garlic (I buy a big tub of peeled garlic cloves and then food processor them and make a stack of small ziplocs (flat) that go into the freezer. I can then break off a chunk and throw it into the pan when cooking. I don't like the jarred garlic and am too cheap to get the frozen cubes of garlic.

Freeze pita bread or get the frozen naan as an easy starch base.

If cooking fish seems daunting (I am daunted and also don't trust our kitchen ventilation), find canned fish options you do like. I get fancy canned tuna in olive oil and that can go straight into the pan with the chunk of frozen garlic and the za'atar and some salt/acid (lemon if I have it, vinegar if not). Then I have a yummy topping for pasta or bread.

* My partner jokes that I practice culinary segregation because the most conveniently located cabinet is labeled "Asian condiments" and the slightly more difficult to reach cabinet
posted by spamandkimchi at 6:56 PM on October 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

Get a nice enough chef’s knife and paring knife (the wire cutter recommendation is fine) and take a knife skills class or study a knife skills book so that common veggie prep skills like chopping an onion or chopping up broccoli florets don’t come between you and your diet.

Having the biggest cutting board that will fit in your dishwasher helps too.
posted by A Blue Moon at 7:26 PM on October 21, 2023

Just don't buy ingredients that don't fit into the Mediterranean diet, aside from a few here and there if it's not a life threatening situation for you to change your diet. So when it's time to cook dinner, you don't have white steak and white rice in your fridge/pantry, you have fish and beans or whatnot. Make enough dinner so you have leftovers for lunch.

And as someone said, center your meals around the veggies you plan on eating.
posted by dabadoo at 9:43 PM on October 21, 2023

Also, oh my goodness yes, kuku sabzi. The best way to use up those herbs that are about to go. (Heck, we put kuku sabzi in our kids’ lunch boxes now.)
posted by graphweaver at 10:43 PM on October 21, 2023

About fish: I have a theory that apart from the insecurities about what to do with something expensive that you rarely cook, a big reason people don't cook fish is (and should be) that it is hard to find restaurant-grade fresh fish in your local supermarket. There's a lot of built-in expensive failure there.
The good alternatives are canned fish, frozen fish or fresh mussels. Mussels stay alive for days even in supermarkets, they are easy to prepare and eat, and good for the environment.
I also use a frozen seafood mix for pasta: thaw the seafood, preferably in the fridge during the day. Get a pot of water to the boil and salt it well. Then chop up a lot of parsley and some garlic and chili to taste. Now add the pasta to the water (80 g pp, preferably long and thin like spaghetti or linguine).
In a sauter pan or wok, heat some olive oil, and throw in the garlic and chili (or chili flakes), sauter them for 30 seconds: the garlic should not brown at all, and then add a half cup of white wine (or water mixed with a tbsp white vinegar). Let it simmer until the strong smell of wine or vinegar has evaporated, then add the seafood mix, stir well for a minute, add parsley. Turn off if your pasta isn't ready. When the pasta is al dente, drain it, but save a cup of the cooking water. Heat up the pan and put the pasta in it, with some of the cooking water, and stir vigorously, till the water melds with the juices in the pan and the starch from the pasta into a creamy sauce, add lemonjuice and black pepper to taste. The point is that the seafood finishes in the pasta, not before. Serve immediately. Follow with a simple salad, then cheese and fruit.
For frozen fish, I find it best to make some sort of fish balls, because I often feel the texture of frozen fish is not as good as fresh. In the case of farmed fish, the taste isn't a delicate as with fresh, so a bit of punch from herbs and spices is good.
posted by mumimor at 2:59 AM on October 22, 2023 [3 favorites]