Make It Your Mediterranean Diet

To help you bring the gold-standard Mediterranean Diet into your daily life, try these tips to get started.

• Stock your pantry with versatile Med ingredients so you always have foods like olive oil, canned tomatoes, tuna, rice, pasta, and other whole grains on hand. It’s amazing how many easy Mediterranean meals you can make from a well-stocked pantry, when there’s no time to shop

• Use a blender to make Med-style smoothies for breakfast or as fuel for afternoon snacks, by combining yogurt with your favorite fruit. Frozen fruits (including berries) are especially good – they eliminate the need for any ice.
• When it’s sandwich time, match better breads with better spreads. Start with crusty whole grain breads and rolls or pita pockets – tastier and healthier than standard white bread – then spread with hummus, mustard, pesto or another flavorful Med spread. Add foods such as tuna, sliced turkey or chicken, lettuce, sprouts, shredded raw carrots, thin slices of cheese, and sliced apples
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• Keep pre-cooked frozen shrimp in your home freezer. Shrimp cooks quickly, making it an easy addition to one-pot sautés and pasta dishes. Canned salmon is a great choice, too.
• Use meat as a flavoring instead of a main component in a meal. Add small strips of sirloin to a sauté that features lots of vegetables, or add a small amount of diced prosciutto to a dish of pasta.
• Eat a vegetarian meal one night each week. When that feels comfortable, try two nights per week.

Keep Snacks Simple

• Top pita bread with a slice of tomato and a few tablespoons of grated cheese and broil for a minute to create a healthy mini-pizza.
• Marinate olives in olive oil, lemon zest, coriander seeds and cumin seeds and enjoy as a tasty snack.
• Enjoy popcorn air-popped and tossed with a bit of olive oil and Parmesan cheese.
• Focus on fruit. Eat an apple or an orange, or have a peach with ricotta or cottage cheese, or spread a few apple slices with peanut butter
• Fill celery stalks with hummus or different nut butters. Or, keep string cheese on hand and enjoy a piece between meals. 

Brown Bag it To Work 

Fill a whole-grain pita pouch with Greek salad and put the dressing in a separate container; add the dressing just before eating to keep the sandwich from getting soggy

Take a thermos of soup or vegetable stew to work. Toss in some leftover whole grains before you screw on the lid, to make your soup even healthier

Transform leftover brown rice, quinoa, and other whole grains into lunch by mixing them with chopped raw vegetables or beans and adding a little salad dressing.

Keep whole grain bread in the freezer and make a sandwich using frozen bread and hummus, sprouts, leafy greens, Mediterranean Diets,liced peppers, turkey, chicken, or smoked salmon. By lunchtime the thawed bread will taste fresh.

Pack a container of Greek yogurt, which has twice the protein of regular yogurt, and combine it with chopped fruit and a sprinkling of chopped nuts.