The Mediterranean Diet and Falafel Bowl Recipe

Greek salad bowl with Falafel🥗 - recipe at the bottom!

WHAT IS THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET?

The Mediterranean diet became popularized in the 1960s when people began to notice that certain chronic diseases, such as coronary artery disease, were much lower among Mediterranean populations compared to America. It revolves largely around eating whole foods, lots of healthy fats, and even some Vino🍷! .

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WHAT DOES THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET ENTAIL?

•Vegetables and fruits, and lots of them! 🥕🥦🥒

•Healthy fats —> This means olive oil instead of butter🧈 and avocado instead of mayo🥑 (think Omega-3’s!)

•Whole grains —> try things like quinoa, barley, and rice🍚

•Sea food —> Opt for fish as your main twice a week! Unfortunately, with our oceans getting more polluted, a lot of our fish these days contain toxins such as mercury. For this reason, it is a good idea to switch up the kind of fish we eat each week!🐟🐠

•Eat dairy, but sparingly!

•Limit your red meat consumption —> Keep it to a couple of times per month - this one is important! .

•RED WINE —> The jury is still out on whether wine is good for you or not, but a glass of red wine with dinner is allowed on the Mediterranean diet (what more can you ask for?!)🍷🙆🏼‍♀️

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If you’re interested in learning more about the Mediterranean diet and why it works, I can direct you to some good resources- or better yet, book an appointment with your naturopath👩🏼‍⚕️

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RECIPE:

For the bowl:

•Falafel (we did Falafel With A Twist from @ohsheglows )

•cucumber

•tomatos

•onion

•spring mix/lettuce

•pickles .

•pickled jalapenos

•hummus

•garlic tahini sauce .

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For the garlic tahini sauce:

Mix the following in a bowl with a fork-

•1/4 cup tahini

•2 cloves of garlic.

•1-2 tbsp lemon juice .

•1 tsp maple syrup

•Salt and Pepper

***warm water (BEFORE adding water, mix everything with the fork WELL, then slowly add water about 1tsp at a time and mix in until you reach the desired consistency- we kept it thick for this bowl) .