RECIPES

How to cook easy Mediterranean recipes?

Mediterranean diet recipes don’t have to be overly complicated. In fact, many Mediterranean food recipes are simple and incorporate natural ingredients that are found in Mediterranean countries along the sea.

For starters, many easy Mediterranean recipes only involve a few staple and seasonal ingredients. Perfect examples are found in the Spanish gazpacho or Salmorejo. All the necessary ingredients can be easily found in grocery stores in the summertime, plus it helps to beat that summer heat!

Easy Mediterranean diet recipes include a variety of fruits and vegetables. It may sound strange to include fruits in a main course, but there are a handful of recipes for the Mediterranean diet that include fruits as well as vegetables.

These recipes create exquisite dishes with intense flavors that complement each other. Instead of having a plain salad, why not try adding some seasonal fruits to add a twist, or even include different flavored olives!

Another way to incorporate fruits can be through placing Spanish fig cakes to a cheese board to play around with flavors such as savory and sweet. It’s as simple as that! But the results are delicious and promote a playful and experimental method in the kitchen.

Find the real Spanish recipes: health and taste

We’ve shared many delicious Spanish recipes overtime with the hopes that more people are as passionate as we are about our culture and gastronomy.

Each area of Spain, and the Mediterranean, offers a variety of fresh products depending on the area. This allows people to enjoy different local products and enjoy the richness in flavor. Below we will show the different areas of Spain and their specialty.

The entire Iberian Peninsula enjoys Iberian hams and cheeses. All throughout Spain it is common to eat tapas that range in hams and cheeses which are produced in the towns and cities throughout Spain.

Areas like Andalucía, Extremadura, and Castilla La Mancha are infamous for the production of Spanish extra virgin olive oil. This is the principal cooking oil used all throughout Spain and even in the Mediterranean diet because it is a healthier alternative to butter.

Plus, there are many olive groves in Spain making it easier to produce oil. The North of Spain offers an assortment of seafood and fish. Most notably the Galician octopus which is best enjoyed while in A Coruña or any other city in Galicia.

The east coast of Spain closest to the Mediterranean Sea offers an irresistible seafood paella with fresh seafood found along Valencia. Although this dish is only enjoyed for lunch and not dinner which is a typical tourist mistake. Mediterranean diet recipes dinner are typically small portions of food since lunch is the big meal of the day.

The easiest way to try the Mediterranean diet menu is to have the Menu del Día option at the restaurants in Spain. It is a popular three course meal served during the weekdays. You have a few small dish options to select from for the first plate. Then the second dish has heartier options and finally the dessert. This is the perfect way to sample different foods and products from Spain. We highly recommend trying this if you visit Spain!

Enjoy the richness of Mediterranean diet recipes

To enjoy the richness of Mediterranean recipes it is crucial to avoid the excessive use of sauces. A key factor of the Mediterranean food recipes involves the appreciation of the products’ natural flavor.

If a different taste is required then we turn to our favorite Mediterranean spices such as oregano, thyme or Spanish paprika to add a little flavor. In our opinion, a lot of the sauces overpower the taste of the fresh produce so we try to avoid it as much as possible. Although a sauce that we do enjoy in Madrid is the sauce drizzled over potatoes to make patatas bravas.

Another way to add flavor to the multitude of plates that we have is garlic. Fresh garlic is preferred over garlic powder because it adds the characteristic flavor. We use garlic in pretty much any dish but specifically for soups and sofritos.

Additional Spanish food recipes include Spanish tortilla, fresh artichokes, ratatouille (know as “pisto”), vegetable purees, and stir fry dishes that require the use of a spoon to scoop up every last drop.

We hope we have inspired you to try to recreate any of our delicious Mediterranean recipes and to incorporate this diet into your eating habits. As you can see it is packed full of flavor and seasonal produce which means the produce is at its freshest form!