Healthy Mediterranean Pasta Dishes for One or More

Pasta is loved all over the world, and some of the most beloved pasta dishes are part of traditional Mediterranean cuisine. Cooked and tossed with olive oil, garlic, one or more regional cheeses or a tomato and herb sauce, noodles are never better. With vibrant natural ingredients used in Mediterranean cooking and the whole grain and vegetable noodle choices, pasta is one of the most healthful and delicious options for dinner.

For the Family

The entire family can enjoy vegetable spaghetti tossed with a great tomato-based sauce. Young children love learning to eat the long noodles. For the sauce, tomato puree is simmered with garlic, onion, peppers of choice and oregano as well as olive oil, olives, and mushrooms. Salt is added to taste. Grated parmesan scattered on top just before serving finishes this easy and wonderful dish.  Warmed Italian or whole grain bread with garlic butter and a leafy green salad completes the meal.

For Romance

For an easy romantic dinner, pasta is one of the best choices.  The spaghetti works, but other Italian pasta options can make the evening special like manicotti. This dish with large tube noodles stuffed with a mixture of ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese seasoned with garlic, basil, oregano and marjoram is delicious. Fill two or three per person and lie flat in a baking dish. Smother the stuffed noodles with spaghetti or pizza sauce and grated parmesan cheese and bake covered until noodles are cooked at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes.  Uncover and brown the cheese under broiler and serve warm. Serve with a tossed salad and have gelato and chocolates for dessert.

Pasta for One

Even one person can enjoy pasta at home. Noodles cook up nicely in small and large batches, and re-heating noodles does not ruin the texture or taste.  In fact, Italian herbs and flavors combine for even more robust flavors the next day. Lasagne and other pasta dishes also freeze nicely so a full-sized recipe made on one day can be divided in portions and frozen for several meals. Such cooking for one saves time and effort, and the quality of the food is not usually diminished in the least by freezing.

Healthy and Delicious Italian Pasta

A good balance of protein, vegetables and grains make complete meals. Eaten in moderation, pasta is a carbohydrate that can be a part of a nutritious meal. Many whole grain noodles on the market today cook up to look, taste and feel just like the enriched noodles.  Choosing whole grain or rice and corn alternative pastas do help to keep the diet balanced, especially when eating noodles more than once a week.  Tossed and served with generous amounts of Mediterranean-style vegetables, herbs and olive oil, Italian pasta makes a healthy and delicious meal choice.

A Greek Meal You Can Make

When it comes to fantastic Mediterranean cuisine, no choice is better than a Greek meal. The diet coming from the land of Greece is basic and full of robust flavour. Proteins are generously and artfully combined with vegetables, whole grain breads and olives. Herbs are almost always put to good use for enhancing food with rich flavors and aromas. Have you ever eaten Greek food at a restaurant?  If you love Greek food, you can make it at home for yourself and your family.

1-2-3 Meal

Three easy components make a meal that is not complicated but richly sumptuous to the palate and so satisfying. For a meal featuring the cuisine of Greece, simple and fabulous foods and flavors come together. These three are starters called meze, marinated and grilled meat as the main course and an easy dessert.

Start with Meze

The starters or meze are small individual dishes with attractive small servings in them. You can serve more than one if you or your family like more variety with the meal or have a big appetite. One option is to slice or dice fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and onions into small bowls and sprinkle generously with vinaigrette.

Another meze is a wedge of feta cheese on a small plate and garnished with olives and tomato slices. Vinaigrette is also drizzled over this feta cheese meze. A third easy meze option would be a small saucer or plate of two or more olives with carrot sticks and some radishes with the vinaigrette topping them.

Greek Vinaigrette

Common Greek vinaigrette is a mix of extra virgin olive oil, a small amount of lemon juice and herbs. Whole and fresh herb leaves are best, but dried herbs will do. The main herbs for rich and traditional Greek flavour are garlic, mint, basil and oregano.

Marinated & Grilled

Poultry, lamb or goat meat and fish are the common main proteins consumed in Greece. Any of these will work fabulously for a Greek dinner feast. Cuts of choice are marinated.

The marinade is made with ingredients like the Greek vinaigrette consisting of olive oil, a little lemon juice and herbs. Slices of lemon are excellent added with the marinade. Marinating overnight is ideal, but at least give an hour or more for full flavor enhancement. After the marinating process, grill the meat on a hot grill until properly cooked at safe meat cooking temperatures.

Hot Bread

If bread is desired to eat with the meal, you can warm whole wheat rolls or flatbread with a little extra virgin olive oil on them. Serve them warm from the oven. You do not have to, but you could infuse a little olive oil warm with fresh crushed garlic and serve it with the hot bread.

The Dessert

Of course, baklava is a popular Greek dessert. An uncomplicated way to prepare is to purchase phyllo dough and paint softened butter in between every two layers, add a prepared mixture of chopped nuts, cinnamon and honey and repeat to about six layers of the phyllo. Bake in an oven preheated to 325-350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45-50 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cut in squares or triangles, you can serve baklava hot or cold.

An even simpler dessert is based on Greek yogurt. Top a few scoops of plain yogurt in a small dish with a fairly lavish drizzle of honey and sprinkle of nuts like walnuts. You can garnish the dish with fresh figs or other pieces of fresh fruit.

Simply Pleasant & Delicious Mediterranean

1-2-3 you have a wonderful Greek dinner that is very easy to make. Make the dinner a happy occasion. You and your family can be transported to the Mediterranean with a little mood music and this delicious spread of fine food from the country of Greece.