This cookbook stood out because of its detailed introductory sections that lay out a lot of information about the Mediterranean diet. Some cookbooks are wishy-washier than others, but this one is pretty strict on what a Mediterranean diet means. It’s also encouraging, though, and definitely shows that it can be done. There are also detailed meal plans included to help get you started.

The rest of the book is standard, but also really good. It’s packed full with a lot of recipes, often accompanied with colorful, inspiring photos. Again, I can definitely see that there’s a range of food in the Mediterranean diet, even if I’m still working out which bits I like and want to keep.

The only thing about this particular Mediterranean diet cookbook is that I would have liked it to be longer, simply because I liked its style. I’ve definitely been spoiled by some other similar cookbooks and now expect an endless litany of recipes.

I've been curious about the Mediterranean diet for a while now and was so excited to find a cookbook for beginners, tons of great recipes and info in this one!

The Mediterranean Diet has become very popular as a way to reverse certain food related health issues so more and more cookbooks are coming out. This one spends some time at the beginning talking about the diet and showing a couple of meal plans which really is great for someone new to the diet. Now the Mediterranean includes countries from Portugal to Turkey and on multiple continents but this cookbook focuses on Greek recipes and flavors. You will find a lot of feta, phyllo, and dill. Now if you are not a fan of standard Greek flavors this might not be the Mediterranean diet cookbook for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a temporary digital arc of this cookbook in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR: Check out the recipes here - they were interesting, but skip the whole intro section.

I did not enjoy the introduction. It could have easily been half as long without losing anything valuable. I’m also not a huge fan of the “I’m the only knowledgeable one” vibe. Most of the introduction chapter was very repetitive. There also seems to be a large focus on losing weight which is not something I’m interested in reading about - especially when it's billed as improving your health. Those two things are not the same.

As for the recipes, I agree with another reviewer who said they wished the nutrition facts included fiber and sodium. They're super important for a lot of people - especially those looking to use this diet to improve heart health or lose weight. "Detailed nutrition information" should include them.

I wish more of the recipes had photos as that's a big part of what makes flipping through cookbooks fun.

The recipes themselves are interesting and easy to follow though some have *a lot* of ingredients. That being said, there are a few I plan on trying out.

Reviewing cookbooks gives me a chance to try different recipes that I may never have otherwise tried. I’ve had some winners and some losers! The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners is a winner!

The book includes an introduction that explains all the health benefits to living a Mediterranean lifestyle. It explains what food to buy and what to stay away from and the amount of each food you should eat. It’s a great refresher if you already live the Mediterranean lifestyle or a great introduction if you are just starting out. It also includes a two-week menu plan that looks easy to follow.

The book includes about 100 easy to prepare recipes broken down by Breakfast, Vegetable and Bean Entrees, Pasta, Rice and Savory Pie Entrees, Seafood, Meat, and Poultry Entrees, Salads, Snacks and Appetizers and finally desserts. Most of the recipe ingredients you will have on hand except for the fresh herbs and veggies which are called for in many recipes. I like cookbooks with lots of photos because then I know what the meal is supposed to look like when it’s done. The photos in this cookbook are beautiful, but I wished there had been more of them.

I decided to try Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie) because it looked like one of the more difficult recipes in the book. I had everything on hand (frozen spinach, olive oil, onion, fresh parsley, fresh dill and fresh mint (home grown), nutmeg, sugar, feta cheese, eggs and pepper. The only item I had to go to the grocery store for was the phyllo sheets which I purchased in the freezer section. The only word I have to describe this dish is YUMMY!! It was the first time I ever worked with Phyllo sheets and it wasn’t too difficult. If you don’t like Feta cheese, then you won’t like this meal, but everything went so well together and phyllo is scrumptious!!

And…..yes, the cookbook does include the famous Mediterranean dip, Hummus!!

I've always been able to stomach Mediterranean food best, so I've been wanting to find a cookbook that can help me do more with that. This is perfect for that. I have learned so much about how to make the foods and what kinds of foods would be best for my digestive system.

Easy looking recipes for the beginner. It also has a 2 week menu plan that looks easy to follow. Many color pictures which is important to me in a cookbook. I have recommended this book for my library since the recipes appear so easy.

Thank you to author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Tired of being on diets only to gain all the weight back (plus more)? The Mediterranean diet is more like a lifestyle. Once you commit to it, you won’t want to stop eating its delicious food. The author of
The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners knows of what she speaks she’s a Greek-American nutritionist and registered dietitian who has lived this lifestyle her entire life.

Other Mediterranean diet books limit the fattening foods, like olive oil, in the menu. This book does not. Other books encourage low-fat meats like boneless skinless chicken breasts. This book does not. In fact, this book allows cheese, bread, rice, and wine, which are forbidden on many other diets. The book allows pasta twice a week too. It encourages eating vegetables and beans and restricts red meat to once a week.

The book includes a two-week meal plan to get you started. However, the recipes are the star. Feta cheese is almost ubiquitous in the recipes. So if feta is not a favorite, this diet may not be for you. You might also want to purchase pots of fresh mint and dill. However, once you have those ingredients and extra virgin olive oil, the rest are relatively inexpensive. I bought enough to make sixteen recipes for under $80 that included the oil, cheese and herbs. I can’t wait to make the vegan Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew and the Baked Italian Spinach and Ricotta Balls. There are also desserts included like Stuffed Dates with Feta, Parmesan, and Pine Nuts. Yummy!

Want to lose weight without really trying while eating delicious food? Pick up The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners and begin your healthy new life! 5 stars and a favorite!

Thanks to DK and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The recipes in here appear to be easy to follow & like delightful editions to a weekly meal plan! I’m looking forward to testing one of the recipes tonight.

Thank you Netgalley & DK for this e-Arc!

Featuring a balance of vegetables, grains, fruit, generous portions of olive oil, and occasional servings of meat and fish, the authentic Mediterranean diet is a healthier choice. The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners contains diet information, 100 recipes, and expert advice from Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Elena Paravantes.

With tasty, easy to follow recipes and some beautiful photographs (although it could use more of those), this cookbook is a good place to start when cooking Mediterranean food. The first few chapters with the science of the diet, though, are very simplistic and talks about a study by Keys that has been disproved.

Read it for the recipes.

This is the perfect cookbook I was looking for, something different for my family to try! The ingredients are easy to find in my pantry or supermarket and the recipes appear flavorful, I only wished there were photos accompanying each recipe. I cannot wait to cook some of this! Thank you to DK, the author, and NetGalley for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

MEDITERRANEAN DIET COOKBOOK FOR BEGINNERS by Elena Paravantes contains "Meal Plans, Expert Guidance, and 100 Recipes to Get You Started." I think this cookbook could make a wonderful gift (even to yourself!). The beginning offers an explanation of the Mediterranean Diet, including health benefits and key principles. Recipes are organized mostly by type of ingredient (vegetables; then seafood, meat and poultry; salads; desserts; etc.). Unfortunately, I had trouble downloading the preview copy so I could not view individual recipes (Do they have pictures? Nutritional information? Few or many ingredients?). Therefore, I am giving this title a neutral rating of 3 stars.

This is a nice Mediterranean diet primer and cookbook, though it won't work well for my family. The beginning gives a good overview of the Mediterranean diet and its benefits and then recipes are given for breakfast, seafood, snacks, pastas, desserts, etc. Photos are given for about 1/3 of the recipes. Basic nutritional information is given but not all -- it tells calories, fat, saturated fat, protein and carbs. It does not tell fiber, which is one thing I track the most, or other values that people may want like sodium or net carbs.

While the author says that the diet is not high in carbs, she recommends having 50% of your calories from carbs, 30% from healthy fats and 20% from proteins. At my age and with my health needs (recent high blood pressure, inflammation and recently recovered from long-haul covid after lots of hard work, supplements and dietary changes), I do better on far fewer carbs, more protein and more healthy fat, as does my husband. A lot of the meals in this cookbook were very low in protein, which works much better for very young folks. At middle age we start to have higher protein needs, and 5 grams of protein in my dinner with 60 grams of carbs is not going to be good for me, even if they're "healthy carbs." I have been cooking keto for myself and my husband for the past few months with very good results on our health issues and weight, and I have a Mediterranean keto cookbook that has been great. Two of my kids are also allergic to gluten, and this book does not offer gluten free substitutions. At this point it's pretty easy to just buy GF substitutes and to adapt recipes for many of the dishes, but it's something to note.

For most folks, this will be a very helpful cookbook. Many of the recipes sound and look very tasty, mostly ones that I can't make because they use ingredients like phyllo dough. For those transitioning from a standard American diet who don't have special dietary needs, this will be a very helpful resource.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

The Mediterranean Diet by Elena Paravantes

9781465497673


192 Pages
Publisher: DK
Release Date: December 29, 2020

Non-Fiction, Cooking, Ethnic Foods, Dieting, Self-Help, Nutrition

The book is divided into eight sections

Introduction
Breakfasts
Vegetable and Bean Entrees
Pasta, Rice, and Savory Pie Entrees
Seafood, Meat, and Poultry Entrees
Salads
Snacks and Appetizers
Desserts

Years ago, my doctor advised me to try to eat more of a Mediterranean diet. At the time I did not know what it was and did not really do anything about it. I consider myself a healthy eater and didn’t see how I could benefit from this type of diet. Not that far from where I live is Tarpon Springs, a small Greek town. I love to go there and eat but never thought about trying to cook the dishes at home. I think my favorite recipes are:

Sheet pan cauliflower with parmesan and garlic
Roasted white beans with summer vegetables
Briami (sheet pan roasted vegetables)
Sweet potato and chickpea Moroccan stew
Neapolitan pasta and zucchini
Mediterranean garlic and herb-roasted cod

During Covid-19 I have put on weight. I am using this book to start a nutritious change in my diet. This cookbook has been such a delight to read. I think anyone that likes regional cooking would enjoy this book.

I love Mediterranean food but my interest in it as a diet peaked for two reasons. One olive oil of Keto points to Mediterranean. While Mediterranean is in the top three diets, Keto is around last but one in 40. Mediterranean Keto seems to be the way to go. And then there is the transitioning from keto part. the off ramp which should be taken care with the authors article on How to switch from a keto diet to a mediterranean diet.
There is a good plan to make your Weekly Mediterranean Diet plan. After all the allowances of fish, pasta, meat days, you see how it is rich with vegetables. There's a handy minimum number of servings of vegetables and greens per day among other things like fruits,beans. If you have decided to go Greek, then this initial planning step is helpful.

Beautiful book full of recipes and great detail on Mediterranean cooking. Great photos of lots of great info for beginners to enjoy the benefits of one of the healthiest diets around.

Interesting tips and advice, although wish there were more photos. I also downloaded the pdf version, and it was super slow to change pages. Frustrating after awhile. Would be a good reference book if you want to learn more about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, but would be best in a physical copy.

The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginner by Elena Paravantes had its strengths and weaknesses.

I enjoyed the introduction and meal plan. It also had several tips listed throughout the beginning of the book in a very clear, bulleted format. I found the instructions clear on the recipes. I thought the selection of recipes was fantastic. It was filled with classics as well as recipes I had never heard of. The photos that were included were visually appetizing.

With that said, I wish there were photos for each of the recipes. Especially the recipes that are not as well known. I like having an idea of what my food is supposed to look like when done. While there was a large selection of recipes, I did not find that many of the recipes appealed to my taste.

Like I said earlier, this book has its strengths and shortfalls. I think this book would be enjoyed by some, but not great for everyone.

I received an eARC from DK and Alpha through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
LOVED THIS! Practical, relatively simple and appetizing looking recipes that might actually work for my family, along with practical information. I have already preordered my own personal copy as I am going to need to keep this one.

This cookbook is a great place to start for anyone looking to eat more healthy. None of the recipes are unapprochable. I love the use of leeks, dill, and other mediterranean staples. Mediterranean diets are heavy especially on vegetables and healthy grains, and there is a lot of that here. There is also a nice little dessert section with lighter versions of favorites (like baklava) or fruit based dishes. I would eat any of these recipes. They all sound delicious.