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

5 Must-Have Cookbooks #4

Make Every Day Mediterranean: An Oldways 4-Week Menu Plan

One of my newest additions to my cookbook collection, it is small and compact and will not take much room in your kitchen. The small size is not indicative of its bounty. It is rich with varied and flavorful recipes. They provide simple steps to take to embrace the Mediterranean Diet way of eating and how to stock your pantry. Produced by Oldways, the very group of nutritionists and scientists that came up with the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid. The group who inspires the Olive Sunshine blog.

Because this is one of my newest books, I am still exploring it. I knew it had to be included in my Five Must-Have Cookbooks for the Mediterranean Diet. Designed for weight loss, each recipe has fewer than 500 calories. Once your ideal weight is achieved, there are bonus recipes for snacks and healthy sweet treats to enjoy.

Easy Recipes with Fewer Ingredients

Why do I think this would be a perfect cookbook for a newbie? In addition to the specific meal plans for each of the 28 days, there are more generic menu ideas that require minimal time or effort. The “Breakfast 1,2,3 Plan” is easy and would work for even the busiest schedule.

The “Lunch Ideas” are generalized and easy to master for a busy person just learning the Mediterranean Diet way of eating. The generic ideas include salads, wraps, stuffed pitas, meze platters and soups. Leftovers are encouraged. Utilizing leftovers is essential for me on this way of eating. Oldways advises in the book that extra dinner is prepared and is used for lunch the next day. I have found that grains and proteins I use for dinner, can be the main ingredient on a hearty salad the next day.

The recipes are compact, as is the book. Ingredients are minimal for each recipe. Preparation ease is certainly a focus of the book, with simple salads and soups included. A favorite recipe, is a six-minute pasta dish – very tasty and quick! Some people say the Mediterranean Diet requires an expansive grocery list that can be expensive, and also complain about the time it takes to prepare dishes. Oldways seems to counteract both of these claims with this cookbook – simple foods and easy prep.