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Mediterranean Diet Month: Greek Lemon Cupcakes made with Greek Yogurt and Olive Oil.

May 16, 2012

Continuing with the theme of Mediterranean Diet Month, I wanted to share a recipe that combines 3 ingredients that are very common in the Greek kitchen: Yogurt, Olive Oil and Lemons.

These cupcakes are based on a Greek cake made with yogurt called yiaourtopita, which translates into yogurt pie but is basically a syrupy yogurt cake. My version is lighter; has fewer eggs, does not contain butter (as the original yiaourtopita) I replaced it with olive oil and there is no syrup, but it is equally delicious and ideal with coffee or tea and a healthier cupcake for kids.

These are light, fluffy and very lemony cupcakes, using ingredients that everybody has in their kitchen, and the best part: they only take 10 minutes to prep.

Don’t be afraid of the olive oil, you won’t notice it taste-wise but you will notice it nutrition wise; this cupcake has almost no saturated fat, but mostly the good monounsaturated ones.

I use plenty of lemon juice and lemon peel, but you can use less, and you can also add poppy seeds too.

Greek Lemon Cupcakes with Greek Yogurt and Olive Oil.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 7 ounces low fat Greek yogurt
  • 2 eggs
  • Lemon juice from 1 ½ -2 lemons
  • Lemon peel from 2 lemons

For Lemon Glaze

  • Lemon juice
  • Powdered Sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F (180 degrees Celsius)

2. Line a muffin pan with muffin liners.

3. In a large bowl mix sugar and olive oil

4. Add the eggs and mix.

5. Add the yogurt, lemon peel and lemon juice and mix well.

6. In another bowl blend flour with baking powder.

7. Add the flour ½ a cup at a time to the batter while mixing.

8. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full.

9. Bake for 30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

10. Let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and remove and let them cool completely.

Lemon Glaze
Add powdered sugar to lemon juice stirring with a spoon until you have a thick consistency that is pourable. The ratio is about ½ cup powdered sugar for every tablespoon of lemon juice.

Photo Credit: Olive Tomato

Mediterranean Diet Month: The Diet of the Cretan Great Grandmother who lived to be 99.

May 14, 2012

Manolis Manolarakis, Dietitian and President of the Union of Dietitians and Nutritionists of Greece, describes the diet of his great-grandmother from Crete who lived to be 99 years old.

My beloved great-grandmother (in Greek pro-yiayia) Aristea and my great-grandfather were two of the many Greeks from Crete (home of the Mediterranean diet) who immigrated to the U.S. during the mid-war period (period between WWI AND WWII).

They worked hard, had a family, but with start of the Second World War they found themselves once again in Greece. The first days of the war my great-grandfather George, and his son (my grandmother’s brother Manolis – I have the honor of being named after him) were executed by the Germans for their participation in the Resistance.

The years that followed were difficult and my great-grandmother managed not only to raise her daughter but also her grandchildren (among them my mother) using the simple food that her own land, the land of Crete, produced.

Today, the Mediterranean diet (for me the Cretan diet) may be known as the gold standard of diets, with a multitude of health benefits, but this same nutritional model preserved and played an important role in the survival of thousands of Cretan Greeks during the war and the difficult years that followed. Read on and find out what they ate Read more »

Mediterranean Diet Month: Eat like a Greek and avoid red meat

May 11, 2012

Konstantina Mpaklori a Dietitian based in Athens, Greece recommends that everybody should eat like a Greek (like a Greek of the 60’s that is).

Mpaklori recommends that we should “Avoid red meat”. And she is right. Several studies have associated red meat and particularly processed red with increased risk of total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. Researchers note that red meat, especially processed meat, contains ingredients that have been linked to increased risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. These include heme iron, saturated fat, sodium, nitrites, and certain carcinogens that are formed during cooking. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t eat any meat, but it shouldn’t be the main course. It should accompany other foods such as vegetables, greens, rice, pasta like it was with the traditional Greek diet.

Mpaklori also recommends that… Read more »

Mediterranean Diet Month: A Greek Graphic Designer and Foodie “illustrates” the Greek Diet.

May 9, 2012

Nikolas Drossos a Greek Graphic Designer, illustrates a traditional Cretan recipe and presents his list of Greek Diet Dos and Dont’s.

Being a Greek graphic designer/illustrator and dedicated foodie, I have always held the Mediterranean diet in high esteem. But even though this diet has been proven to be extremely healthy, it has lost ground to highly processed, ready to eat foods.

I was reading about Rene Redzepi, the chef of Noma, the two-Michelin star restaurant that was named as Best Restaurant in the world, and the Mediterranean diet came to mind.

Why? Well Chef Redzepi may be known for his creations in the Danish restaurant, but he is in fact of Albanian origin. He comes from a country, not far from Greece, which is very poor. He was raised appreciating the simple food; and that was what has been on his mind. Mediterranean food is all about that: “real food”.

But the Mediterranean diet is more than food; it is a way of life.

Let’s see what I do as a Greek to maintain a healthy way of living.

Greek Diet To Do’s

• Do not eat processed foods, pre-cooked or ready-made food.
• Use only extra virgin Greek olive oil in cooking.
• Prefer whole wheat bread instead of the usual processed bread.
• Include a lot of fresh vegetables, or wild greens in your daily menu. Also Kalamata olives.
• Consume dairy products.
• Eat fish 2 times a week.
• Eat very small portions of red meat.
• Prefer Greek honey instead of sugar for coffee, or as a sweetener….  Read more »

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