Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too: Eating to Be Sexy, Fit, and Fabulous! (10 page)

(This is oleocanthal, the antiinflammatory substance in olive oil.) Some are rich and full, some light with barely any taste, some very reminiscent of olives, some less so. When you are cooking, you can think about what kind of tastes will match the foods you are preparing. For instance, mild oils are best when you want other subtle flavors to come through, as in a relish with roasted vegetables. Stronger oils balance zestier flavors or can be more interesting on salads.

Except the vine, there is no plant which bears a

fruit of as great importance as the olive.

—Pliny the Elder, ancient Roman

philosopher

Some women find the taste of olive oil too strong at first. If you don’t care for the taste of a strong oil, don’t just assume you don’t like olive oil. Look for an oil with a mild or fruity flavor.

Spanish oils tend to have a mild flavor compared with oils from Italy, so you might try one. The more you use olive oil, the more you are likely to begin to appreciate the unique flavor it imparts to food. You can even bake with mild oils instead of butter. Try my Olive Oil and Lemon–Scented Semolina Cake (page 303).

Olive oil cakes and biscotti are favorites in Italy. Remember, the more you incorporate olive oil into your diet—the more olive oil becomes the principal source of fat in your diet—the more you will be eating in the real spirit of the Mediterranean.

√ Nut Oils

Olive oil may be the principal source of fat in the Mediterranean diet, but it isn’t the only oil. Many Mediterranean coun-Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too

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tries use nut oils to add flavor to salads, dressings, and antipasto platters, or even for frying, especially peanut oil (not really a nut oil, but it imparts a delicious, nutty flavor). Walnut oil, hazelnut oil, and sessame oil have a strong flavor indeed, so you need only a little bit. Try tasting a few of these oils, or mix a splash of nut oil into a basic vinaigrette and see what it does for salad greens. Of course, you can get the benefit of nut oils by eating nuts, too. Nuts are the perfect snack: convenient, fast, tasty, and filling. Plus, nuts are proven to be healthful and are a great tool to keep you on track in your quest for healthy eating.

A 1992 study showed that study participants who ate nuts every day had a 60 percent lower rate of heart attacks than those who ate nuts less than once per month. Other studies since then have linked high nut consumption with lower risk of stroke, diabetes, and dementia. Eating nuts has even been linked to living longer.

The traditional American notion that nuts are fattening and therefore off-limits to dieters is quickly falling to the way-side as people get more interested in protein and seek out low-carb snacks. Nuts fit that dietary fad, but they are hardly faddish—they have been part of the human diet for thousands of years. And they don’t make you fat, either. Like olive oil, nuts help you feel satisfied with less food. One study showed that regular nut eaters were actually thinner than people who rarely ate nuts. Another study compared two groups of dieters whose participants lost an average of 3 pounds over two weeks. One group ate pretzels before each meal; the other ate nuts. Even though the nuts had more calories and fat, researchers suspect both groups lost weight because the group eating nuts felt more satisfied and ate less food during the meal. Who knew delicious almonds, sweet cashews, crunchy walnuts, pistachios, and hazelnuts were “diet” foods?

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√ Incorporating Olive Oil into Your Diet

It’s one thing to buy a bottle of olive oil and put it on the shelf in your pantry. But how do you use it? Try these delicious recipes that use olive oil as a primary ingredient. Making olive oil your principal source of fat really is simple. Just eat less meat, and when you cook with oil, use olive oil. If you can make these recipes a regular part of your diet, you will have made a big leap toward eating in the Mediterranean spirit. I bet you’ll really begin to appreciate this versatile oil with the beautiful taste.

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Bagna Cauda (Hot Bath)

S e r v e s 4

√Bagna cauda is a celebration dip that actually comes from northern Italy. It consists of warmed olive oil with garlic, anchovies, and just a spot of butter. The dip is put in a bowl over a flame and served with vegetables such as red pepper strips, cardoons (a winter root vegetable), celery, and endive. Even though bagna cauda is traditionally served at parties paired with red wine and not as a meal, I think it makes an excellent light lunch.

I like to use whatever vegetables are seasonal and look fresh, so feel free to change the vegetables in this recipe depending on the time of year and what you can find. If you do decide to serve bagna cauda at a party, you can easily double the recipe.

VEGETABLES

FOR THE HERB BRUSH

4 cups mixed raw, roasted, or blanched

1 fresh sprig tarragon

seasonal vegetables

1 fresh sprig rosemary

Some options: baby carrots, baby

1 fresh sprig thyme

beets, cardoons, onions,

1 fresh sprig lavender

artichokes, broccoli, celery, bell

peppers, mushrooms, summer

FOR THE BATH

squash, winter squash, endive

1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 fresh or canned anchovy fillets,

rinsed, patted dry, and minced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1.
Arrange all the vegetables on a platter with a small bowl in the center or a preheated fondue pot.

2.
Tie up all the herb sprigs by their stems with kitchen twine to make a brush.

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3.
Combine the olive oil, butter, anchovies, and garlic in a saucepan and heat on medium until warm. Pour the warm oil into the bowl or fondue pot.

4.
Dip the herb brush in the oil and brush it all over the vegetables. You can even dip the vegetables in the warm oil for extra flavor after using the herb brush.

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Charred Squash Salad

S e r v e s 4

√This recipe makes a good summer lunch because it features those summer squash that are so ubiquitous. Too much zucchini in your garden? Use all zucchini. Or pick a colorful collection of squash from the farmers’ market such as yellow squash, crookneck squash, and pattypan squash. This delicious salad is very easy. Pair it with a little pasta or bread, add some fish or a handful of nuts, and you’ve got a great meal.

Use plain olive oil instead of extra-virgin for charring the squash. Cooking at high temperatures compromises olive oil’s flavor, so there isn’t much point wasting the precious extra-virgin stuff for this step. Save it for the vinaigrette.

1 tablespoon virgin or refined olive oil

1 cup fresh chopped basil

1 pound assorted summer squash (try

1 small red onion, peeled and cut into

zucchini, yellow squash, crookneck,

strips

or pattypan squash), cut into

Salt and pepper to taste

various shapes

Balsamic Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1.
Heat the olive oil in a cast iron pan until it is smoking hot.

Add the squash and fry them quickly until they are charred. Remove from the heat and put the squash in a large bowl. Toss them with the tomatoes, basil, and red onions.

2.
Season the vegetables with salt and pepper, then toss with the balsamic vinaigrette.

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Balsamic Vinaigrette

M a k e s a b o u t 11/4 c u p s

√Look for balsamic vinegar that comes from Italy. This versatile vinaigrette recipe is perfect with charred squash. You can also use it on salad greens.

1 shallot, peeled and minced

1⁄2 cup virgin or refined olive oil

11⁄2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1.
Put the shallots in a bowl. Add the vinegars, and let stand for 15 minutes.

2.
Stir in the garlic and oils, and season with salt and pepper.

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Tortas

S e r v e s 6

√This beautifully festive recipe has several parts. You can make just the torta, or you can make as many of the accompanying condiments as you like. You can make it all ahead of time, too.

Tortas are fun to make, packed into ring molds, then unmolded to reveal their attractive layers. Made with fresh vegetables that peak at the height of summer, flavorful olive oil, and tangy sheep’s cheese ( you can substitute goat cheese), a torta makes a complete lunch, especially when topped with tapenade (the recipe for tapenade is in chapter 2), hot pepper oil for extra intense flavor, and the flavorfully bitter watercress coulis as a sauce on the plate under the torta or drizzled on top. But these tortas taste perfectly good without adornment if you don’t want to take the time to make the condiments. You don’t need fancy ring molds to make this recipe, either. Just remove the tops and bottoms from six tuna cans and wash them thoroughly.

1 eggplant

2 red bell peppers, charred, skinned,

1⁄2 cup virgin or refined olive oil

seeded, and diced (see page 67)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon Tapenade (page 37),

1 medium zucchini, sliced thin

optional

(a mandoline works well for this;

Red Pepper Oil (recipe follows) to

see page 103)

taste, optional

11⁄2 pounds fresh sheep’s cheese

2 tablespoons Watercress Coulis

(recipe follows), optional

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Slice the eggplant into six 1-inch disk-shaped slices and brush each piece with olive oil, using about half the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet. Bake the eggplant until it is soft, about 15

minutes. Set aside to cool.

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2.
Meanwhile, bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil, and fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the zucchini to the boiling water and cook 1 minute. Remove the zucchini from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and put it into a wire strainer with a handle. Immediately plunge the zucchini into the ice water bath.

3.
Assemble the torta: Place six ring molds (as described above) on a flat plate or cutting board. Place 1 slice of eggplant in each ring mold. Top each with a layer of sheep’s cheese (I usually pipe this in using a pastry bag with a straight tip), then a layer of peppers. Top with another layer of cheese, then fan the zucchini slices on top so that they overlap each other.

4.
Drizzle the tortas with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Chill the tortas at least 1 hour. These can be made a day in advance.

5.
To serve, unmold the tortas by carefully easing them out of the ring molds with a knife. If desired, top each torta with a spoonful of tapenade, drizzle with red pepper oil, and finish with a splash of watercress coulis. Serve with a green salad and crostini (see page 57).

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Red Pepper Oil

M a k e s 2 c u p s

√This interesting and highly flavored spicy oil is a great condiment for vegetables, fish, or even bread. If you don’t have a juicer, puree the peppers in a blender, then press through a strainer, reserving the juice. Squeeze out as much juice as you can and discard the pulp. This recipe makes 2 cups, so you will have plenty to drizzle on anything that needs a little extra zing.

Keep it in a bottle in the refrigerator for up to a month, to use whenever you want to add some zing to your food.

3 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and

Cayenne pepper to taste

fed into a juice extractor

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon, or

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

to taste

Salt to taste

1.
Put the red pepper juice in a medium saucepan and heat on medium until the juice is reduced to a syrup, about 30 minutes.

Cool.

2.
Put the juice in a blender or food processor and blend slowly while adding the olive oil through the opening in the top.

3.
Add the salt, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice and serve.

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Watercress Coulis

M a k e s 1 q u a r t

√Coulis are liquid vegetable, fruit, or fish purees you can stir into soups and stews for added flavor. This recipe features watercress and adds fresh flavor to vegetables and fish, or, as in this case, can be used as a sauce for tortas. You can also serve it as a chilled soup, and it tastes great with scallops or spooned over oysters and baked.

1 bunch watercress, stemmed

1 small potato, peeled and sliced

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 cups water

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1.
Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water.

2.
Blanch the watercress in the boiling water for 2 minutes using a wire strainer with a handle, then plunge immediately into the ice water. Squeeze the excess water from the watercress. Set aside.