Stuffed tomatoes

A typical dinner Greek families have year around is stuffed tomatoes.  It feeds easily a large family, it is inexpensive and tasty and it is prepared with healthy ingredients available locally and characteristic of the Mediterranean diet.

Ingredients 

10 ripe tomatoes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small eggplant finely chopped

1 small green pepper finely chopped

4 small onions finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

10 tablespoons of Carolina rice

Potatoes

Parsley, salt and pepper, breadcrumbs,

Parmesan, raisins, pine nuts, oregano (optional)  

Directions

Preheat oven to 190°C (350F). Slice tops off tomatoes and put them aside. Scoop out tomato pulp and seeds, being careful not to break tomato shells.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Brown the onions and garlic, add the tomato pulp and stir for 2 minutes.  Add the chopped eggplant to the tomato/onion/garlic mix and cook for 2 minutes. Add the 10 tablespoons of rice to the mix, stirring for two minutes.  Season the mix with salt and pepper to taste. Add chopped parsley.  Add half a cup of raisins and pine nuts and stir for another minute.  Add breadcrumbs, Parmesan, oregano to taste. Stir to combine. Remove from heat.

Fill each tomato with the mix. Place tomato tops over filled tomatoes. Place cut potatoes in spaces in between the tomatoes with remaining mix.  Drizzle tomatoes and potatoes with olive oil.  Place the pan with tomatoes in the oven and bake at 190°C for 90 minutes or until tomatoes become wrinkled. Take the pan out let them cool for while, serve and enjoy.   Bon appetite!

Mediterranean diet

An interesting discussion regarding the benefits of the Mediterranean diet was presented by Medical News Monthly blog on July 2, 2014.  The following is a summary of that post:

The Mediterranean diet is derived from the traditional diets of Greece, southern Italy and Spain.  Its uniqueness relates to the use of olive oil, daily consumption of nuts, legumes, fruits and vegetables.  The people in the Mediterranean countries in addition to local produce eat moderate amount of fish, meat such as poultry and dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt).  They also drink moderately mostly wine and/or spirits. 

The incidence of heart disease and death rates in Mediterranean countries is lower than in the United States.  Although diet appears to have a role, other factors such as genetic, lifestyle, physical activity and extended social and family support systems may also play a part.

Findings from the following two studies are supportive of the beneficial effect the Mediterranean diet has in our health.

In a study from Spain that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the effect of the Mediterranean diet in the prevention of cardiovascular disease was evaluated. A total of 7447 persons were assigned, to one of three diets: a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil, a Mediterranean diet supplemented with mixed nuts, or a control diet (advice to reduce dietary fat). The group assigned to a Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil experienced 96 events while and the group assigned to a Mediterranean diet with nuts experienced 83 events, respectively, versus 109 events in the control group.

Another study from the USA that was also published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that people who ate a daily handful of nuts were less likely to die from any cause over a 30-year period and were more slender than those who didn’t consume nuts.  The researchers report a 29% reduction in deaths from heart disease and an 11% reduction in death rate from cancer.