Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too: Eating to Be Sexy, Fit, and Fabulous! (8 page)

Use white pepper if you want a cleaner look for your hummus.

One 16-ounce can chickpeas

1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more

(garbanzo beans), drained and

for garnish

rinsed

2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, plus more

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

for garnish

(or use roasted garlic for a

Salt and pepper to taste

mellower flavor)

Chopped parsley for garnish

1.
Puree all the ingredients except the garnishes in a food processor.

2.
Heap the hummus in a serving bowl. Drizzle additional oil on top, then sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped parsley.

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Tzatziki

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√This fresh-tasting Greek salad combines cucumber with yogurt.

Very simple, very delicious. I like to use sheep’s yogurt for this recipe. You can skip the first step, salting the cucumbers, if you are pressed for time, but it really draws out the cucumber flavor while eliminating excess moisture and any bitterness from the seeds. If you think you don’t like cucumbers, try this salting method and you might change your mind.

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

1⁄4 teaspoon white pepper

1 tablespoon salt, plus more to taste

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups plain yogurt

1⁄2 teaspoon ground coriander

3 small garlic cloves, peeled and

3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

minced

1.
Put the cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle with the tablespoon of salt. Let it sit and drain for 30 minutes.

2.
In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, white pepper, cumin, coriander, and chopped mint.

3.
Stir in the salted cucumbers. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve at room temperature or chilled, as part of a meze platter.

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Tabbouleh Salad

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√This salad is filling and nutritious but has very little fat.

Cracked wheat is a high-fiber, high-nutrient whole grain that American women often overlook. It is a staple in the Eastern Mediterranean. This salad is great cold the next day for lunch and travels well, so you can take it to work with you.

11⁄2 cups cracked wheat (tabbouleh or

1 medium red onion, peeled and

bulgur)

minced

11⁄2 cups warm water

Freshly squeezed juice of 3 limes

1 bunch scallions, chopped

1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 jalapeño pepper, cored and minced

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon green Tabasco, or more

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian

if needed

parsley

1 tablespoon fresh green coriander

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

seeds, or ground coriander

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin

1.
Place the cracked wheat in a large bowl, and pour the warm water entirely over it. Let sit for 20 minutes.

2.
Meanwhile, place all the other ingredients in a mixing bowl, and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt, pepper, and Tabasco if necessary. Add this mixture to the cracked wheat and thoroughly combine. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

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Meal 2: Soup and Salad Lunch

American women know all about the combination of soup and salad for lunch, but the soups and salads we choose to eat and to serve our families are surprisingly limited compared with the amazing variety in the Mediterranean. Soup and salad are ideal for featuring the freshest and most seasonally abundant produce. We serve several soups and salads at Primo. The selection constantly rotates according to what is coming out of the garden. A bowl of soup and a salad, each prepared with a Mediterranean flair and the freshest possible ingredients, make a perfect meal. Here is an example with two recipes that go well together.

A note about the rouille recipe that follows the soup recipe: This flavorful paste is great to keep in your refrigerator if you make soup frequently. Just stir it into broth-based soups to make them more exciting, using it as a condiment. It thickens your soup and adds an intense flavor that makes the soup more memorable and satisfying. You can also use it as a spread for crostini as part of an antipasto, or as a sauce for chicken or fish.

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Bread and Fish Soup

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√This recipe is so filling and satisfying that you won’t even notice how nutritious and low-fat it is. Using crusty or stale bread in the bottom of a soup bowl and drenching it in hot broth is a Mediterranean tradition that works with any soup from vegetable beef to minestrone. This is one of my favorites.

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 medium onion, peeled and roughly

3 tablespoons tomato puree

chopped

2 cups dry white wine (Chardonnay or

2 stalks celery, trimmed and roughly

Chenin Blanc work well—avoid

chopped

sweet wine)

2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

11⁄2 quarts water

1 large leek, white part diced and green

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

part roughly chopped

1 pound fish, such as whitefish, bass,

3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

halibut, or snapper, or a

6 Roma tomatoes, cored and roughly

combination, cut into 1-inch cubes

chopped

4 tablespoons Rouille (recipe follows)

1⁄2 teaspoon saffron threads (if you

Salt and pepper to taste

can’t find saffron, use turmeric)

2 cups torn pieces of crusty bread,

2 bay leaves

toasted in the oven

1.
In a stock pot, soup pot, or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, and leek greens (not the white parts), and cook while stirring for 3–4 minutes.

2.
Add the garlic and cook 3 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, saffron (crushing with the tips of your fingers), bay leaves, and red pepper flakes, and cook 2 minutes more. Add the tomato puree and cook 3–4 minutes. Add the wine. Stir well and cook
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until the liquid mixture is reduced by half. This should take 20–30 minutes.

3.
Add the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 30 minutes. Cool slightly, then strain the soup stock through a mesh strainer, reserving the strained stock and discarding the vegetable parts.

4.
In another large soup pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter and add the leek whites. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the cubed fish and the soup stock you just made, above. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium so it is simmering.

5.
Swirl the rouille into the hot soup, then taste. Adjust the seasonings, adding salt and pepper if necessary. Remove the bay leaf.

6.
To serve, place pieces of crusty bread in each of four serving bowls. Ladle the soup over the bread. You can garnish with fresh chopped oregano and parsley if you have them available.

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Rouille

M a k e s 2 c u p s

√A traditional French rouille isn’t anything like this recipe—that cooked sauce thickener takes a long time and careful supervision to prepare. My rouille uses roasted peppers, bread crumbs, and olive oil for wonderful flavor and very little prep time.

You won’t use all of this rouille in the recipe for Bread and Fish Soup, so save the rest to spice up other soups and stews or to use as a spread for bread or topping for fish or chicken. The peppers, garlic, and lemon combine to give a real Mediterranean flavor. The rouille should last for a week in the refrigerator.

2 roasted red bell peppers (see below)

1⁄2 cup dried bread crumbs

1 jalapeño pepper, cored, seeded, and

1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

roughly chopped

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

6 garlic cloves, peeled

Salt and pepper to taste

1.
Puree the roasted peppers, jalapeño peppers, garlic, and bread crumbs in a food processor.

2.
With the processor running, slowly add the olive oil, then the lemon juice. Puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

ROASTING PEPPERS

Char peppers over an open flame, such as on a grill or under the broiler, until the skins are black, turning frequently. While they are hot, place them immediately in a bowl and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Let them steam for about half an hour, then peel them. The skins should slide right off. Discard the skins, cores, and seeds. Try not to rinse them as you skin them; you want to retain the flavor.

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Lucy’s Salad

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√We never remove Lucy’s Salad from the menu at Primo. Yet it is among our most changeable items because it consists of whatever is very fresh, right now, today. Lucy is our gardener, and she knows what is exactly ready on any given day, so this salad always has a different character. You can do this, too. Use what comes right out of your garden or what you’ve just bought at the farmers’ market.

8 cups fresh greens, types depending on

Fall/Winter: baby kale, wild

the season:

mustard greens, lollo rosso,

Spring: spinach, sorrel, chives,

chicory, radicchio

chive blossoms, baby red oak

1 cup endive leaves

leaf, wild dandelion, lovage

1 cup cherry tomatoes

Summer: baby romaine,

nasturtium leaves and flowers,

basil, amaranth, beet greens,

arugula

Combine all the ingredients in a large salad bowl and toss thoroughly with your favorite dressing, such as a good red wine vinaigrette or a little olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

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Meal 3: Vegetable Bounty

For good health, sometimes vegetables should be the star of a woman’s meal. This simple menu combines vegetable-rich caponata with a salad of field greens and beets. Some high-flavor sheep’s or goat’s cheese adds protein, but the mosaic of colorful vegetables of different textures is what really makes the meal.

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Caponata

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√This traditional Italian dish is a deliciously thick melding of eggplant and other summer vegetables with olive oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, and tomato puree. The brown sugar gives it that characteristic jamlike consistency. Caponata is delicious smeared on thin slices of bread or crackers as part of an antipasti plate, or as a sandwich filling. You can scoop up the caponata with delicious crunchy endive leaves, which seem to be made for dipping, or spread it on the pita wedges or crusty bread you serve with the salad.

1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1⁄2 cup chopped fresh basil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1⁄2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 medium onion, peeled and diced small

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 large eggplant, peeled and diced small

2 tablespoons tomato puree

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and

1⁄2 cup golden raisins, plumped in

diced small

2 tablespoons water or brandy for

1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and

20 minutes

diced small

1⁄2 cup diced celery, blanched in boiling

1 medium zucchini, peeled and diced

water for 5 minutes

small

Salt and pepper to taste

1.
In a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil over high heat.

Sauté the garlic and onions until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

2.
Add the eggplant, red peppers, and yellow peppers, and sauté until soft, about 5 more minutes. Add the zucchini and cook 2

more minutes.

3.
Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the caponata thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

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Field Greens with Roasted Beets

and Fresh Sheep’s Cheese

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√This is a lovely salad to make in the spring when beets are at their peak and you can find really fresh field greens in the store, at the farmers’ market, or from your own garden. If you can’t find sheep’s cheese, goat cheese works, too. Both kinds of cheese have a sharp note that plays nicely off the sweetness of the beets.

2 shallots, peeled and minced

2 sprigs fresh Italian parsley (pick

1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar

the leaves from the stems)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1⁄2 bunch fresh chives, snipped into

Salt and pepper to taste