5 Must-Have Cookbooks: How to Be Successful on the Mediterranean Diet

5 Must-Have Cookbooks #2

The 30-Minute Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: 101 Easy, Flavorful Recipes For Lifelong Health

Must-have cookbook number two has two authors – both registered dieticians. Serena Ball MS, RDN and Deanna Seagrave-Daly, RDN. An older cookbook from this dynamic duo, but I am partial to it. These women share how their respective honeymoons, when they traveled to the Mediterranean, influenced them. Serena honeymooned in Greece, and Deanna (like me) in Sicily and the Amalfi Coast. They left the Mediterranean knowing they would never leave behind this delicious and nutritious way to live.

A Flexible Approach

The book encourages flexibility, removing the mysteriousness novice cooks may fear. The writers clear up a misnomer often shared on social media sites. As is often stated, they reiterate the Mediterranean Diet is NOT a strict diet. They articulate it is ok to swap out foods you may not like with foods you do, even if not grown in the Mediterranean region. That does not mean that anything goes on the Mediterranean Diet. Eating should be based on an established pattern: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, beans, nuts, olive oil with some dairy and meats. The writers encourage you to take liberty with their cookbook, while respecting what works on this way of eating.

Obviously the most notable element of the cookbook is the time to prepare each dish is under 30 minutes. One of my favorite aspects of the cookbook is at the start of each recipe they outline dietary needs such as dairy or nut free, gluten free, or vegan. Several of the recipes provide prep or ingredient tips lending to the flexibility of the approach.

My only caution to the book is to say there are several beef, pork and other meat recipes. Be sure to enjoy them on occasion in accordance with the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid. The authors won me over with the number of pizza and pasta recipes included – yum!