12 Mediterranean Diet Recipes to Try

With more and more evidence pointing to the Mediterranean Diet as both good for you and easy to live with, I'll be exploring more of these recipes. Here are a few I've got my sights on...

Chopped Greek Salad with Chicken, from Eating Well.

Grilled Rosemary Salmon, also from Eating Well

Insalata Caprese II, via AllRecipes

Greek Island Chicken Shish Kebabs, via AllRecipes

Spinach and Feta Pita Bake -- sort of a 15-minute pizza; via AllRecipes (400+ reviews; 4.5 stars)

Mediterranean Chicken, made entirely stove-top; via AllRecipes

Fattoush Salad is ubiquitous in Wichita, and with good reason: Lebanese is our strongest ethnic influence here -- plus, it's delicious. Here's Kalyn's Fattoush recipe.

Greek Feta Yogurt Dip, from Jeanette's Healthy Living

Chicken Breast with Prosciuto, from Tobias Cooks

Zaatar and Lemon Grilled Chicken, from Sunset

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And a couple bean salads to try (no good pics):

Mediterranean Inspired Kidney Bean Salad, from Delectably Healthy

Bean Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, from the Mayo Clinic

Diet duel: the Mediterranean diet vs. the low-fat diet

The Harvard School of Public Health recently conducted a study pitting the Mediterranean diet against a low fat diet. The results?

Weight change over 18 months:

• Mediterranean dieters lost an average of 9 pounds.
• Low-fat dieters gained (yes, gained) an average of 6 pounds.

Those who stuck with the diet:

• Mediterranean dieters: 54% stuck with it the whole 18 months.
• Low-fat dieters: 20% stuck with it.

Dr. Walter Willet, Chair of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health says:

"The real issue is not losing weight—people can cut back on calories and lose weight on almost any diet—but keeping weight off over the long run. Thus it is more important to find a way of eating that you can stay with for the rest of your life. For this reason, any eating plan you choose should be satisfying and allow variety, and should also be nutritionally sound."

Here's 12 Mediterranean recipes I want to try.

Quote source: Harvard School of Public Health website

Additional study: A small new study shows that following a Mediterranean Diet helped men at high risk for heart disease reduce their bad cholesterol, regardless of whether they lost weight.

Image source: The Boston Globe, "Mediterranean diet vs. low-fat Ornish plan," April 15, 2013