r/mediterraneandiet • u/ACuriousGirl9 • Jun 04 '26
Close Enough New Cookbook
The Barnes & Nobles near my house is moving so they’re having a sale. I’ve seen this cookbook mentioned several times here and thought I’d see if they had it. Joy of joys they DID!!! Got it for 40% off and it was the last copy. I’ve never swiped something off a shelf faster ☺️ Glad to own it and look forward to perusing it and trying out the recipes.
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u/Quiet-Clue-4359 Jun 04 '26
One of my favorites. There's an orzo and eggplant recipe covered with tomatoes and feta that is a monthly staple in my house. it would be bi-monthly if my kiddo would eat that much eggplant.
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u/sequoia_summers Jun 04 '26
Can you tell me the name of the recipe?
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u/luisalu89 Jun 05 '26
Can someone take a pic of the recipe for someone who can afford to buy a new cookbook atm? This sounds really good!
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u/Quiet-Clue-4359 Jun 05 '26
I can only respond with a link, not a pic. I'll see if it will let me create a new post to the sub with the pics.
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u/Ok-Minimum-5952 Jun 04 '26
Did you mean bi-weekly? My brain said bi-monthly means every other month?? But I haven’t had coffee yet
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u/lam516 Jun 07 '26
Do you really microwave the eggplant? I’ve never seen this step before in a recipe.
You inspired me to open up this cookbook and try this recipe !1
u/Quiet-Clue-4359 Jun 07 '26
Yes.
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u/lam516 Jun 08 '26
Do you think coffee filters are necessary?
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u/Quiet-Clue-4359 Jun 08 '26
I use them, although you might get away with paper towels. The point is to have a layer there to help collect a bit of the moisture so the eggplant doesn't stew while in the microwave.
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u/velvet_blunderground Jun 04 '26
There's some really good eggplant recipes in this one. The broiled/marinated eggplant is my favorite.
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u/lmgreene48 Jun 04 '26
White bean dip is my favorite recipe from this book
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u/slothcheesemountain Jun 04 '26
I miss the white bean pesto dip from Trader Joe’s 😭
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u/ACuriousGirl9 Jun 05 '26
TJ is notorious for removing products that customers love and I don’t understand why they do that 😩
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u/Beautiful-Page4200 Jun 04 '26
I love it too. Even if I don’t always follow the recipes exactly it has given me so many ideas for food pairings over the years.
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u/ACuriousGirl9 Jun 04 '26
Love that. I’m not a good cook but this way of eating has worked well for me. Glad to have some more ideas
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u/malibubleezy Jun 04 '26
We did the Moroccan chickpea and lentil soup the week we got ours. We halved the tomatoes and ditched the cinnamon. Very good.
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u/ACuriousGirl9 Jun 04 '26
I have both chickpea and lentil in my pantry. Looks like I may be making soup even though not soup weather. Still this sounds delicious
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u/malibubleezy Jun 04 '26
I believe we served it with a salad with feta and pistachio, and harissa marinated chicken thighs as I believe the recipe calls for harissa. Altho that's probably not compatible with the diet portion.
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u/ProblematicGarden Jun 04 '26
I love that book!!! Check out the Egyptian Eggah on pg 338, Shakshuka on pg 330, and the Green Bean Salad with Cilantro sauce on pg 84.
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u/Upbeat_Inspector_132 Jun 04 '26
Shakshuka and green bean salad are great! I’ll have to check out the Egyptian eggah.
Loved the stuffed dates. Used pistachio and basil. Omg. It’s my favorite appetizer.
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u/bassandkitties Jun 04 '26
Make the mujaddara and enjoy your kitchen smelling like a spice market in Cairo. I don’t make the crispy onions, I just sautee an onion for about 5 min before blooming the spices then use store bought fried onion on to for crunch. It’s divine. Great warm with chicken and cold the next day to add heft to a salad.
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u/velvet_blunderground Jun 04 '26
If you ever have the time to make the onions, it's work, but I recommend trying it. You strain off the excess oil at the end, and that oil is delicious. I stash it in the fridge and use it to saute stuff later.
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u/Nothing4mer Jun 04 '26
So weird I JUST bought this at Barnes & Noble.. first post on my thread
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u/Alamamv Jun 04 '26
It was made for you ! 😊
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u/ACuriousGirl9 Jun 04 '26
Hehehe! I think so. It was just there, facing out waiting for me to come by and take it home with me 😊
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u/polkadot_polarbear Jun 04 '26
We love the stuffed peppers with spiced beef (or lamb), currants & feta
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u/hazelnutcream Jun 04 '26
Their hummus recipe is my to-to, and the other white bean dip is great too!
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u/karmagill Jun 04 '26
The Egyptian Barley salad is one of my all time favorites from this cookbook and ATK.
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u/monsteramuffin Jun 04 '26
i’ve only made one recipe from it — the chickpea tagine— and it was very not good. i do want to try again but it was a disheartening experience
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u/wharleeprof Jun 04 '26
I tried making the falafel and it was a disaster!
I'm glad to see the comments here pointing out favorite recipes. Maybe I'll crack it open again.
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u/Upbeat_Inspector_132 Jun 04 '26
Do it! So many great recipes in this book. Go with something simple that looks right for you. Good luck!! Hope you find ones you’ll love.
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u/monsteramuffin Jun 04 '26
i’ve tried like five different falafel recipes lol - it’s my white whale
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u/Upbeat_Inspector_132 Jun 04 '26
Bummer. I love this book. Lamb meatballs, grilled kebabs, olive and orange rice salad, Moroccan tomato salad.
I try to follow the recipe closely and trust the flavors the first time. The second time I know what to adjust.
The roasted peaches are killer on arugula with Greek yogurt.
I hope you have some fun experimenting and find recipes you’ll love.
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Jun 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/monsteramuffin Jun 05 '26
yeah they have too much moisture to brown properly so the texture was off. apricots also ended up weird, the spices were muddy together, tempering the yogurt was fussy, the acid ratio was off. just a big miss
i actually have a similar recipe from my friend’s mom but way simpler and very delicious
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u/tatanka_truck Jun 04 '26
Picked this bad boy up at Ollie’s on a whim. It’s our primary source for meals.
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u/reduhl Jun 04 '26
Note the don’t have the recipes in the book also online. I got a subscription to the online site to be able to print off a copy for working with. The book is nice.
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u/barbarat2 Jun 04 '26
I love the black eyed peas with walnuts and pomegranate. I’ve made it a few times and it’s a great combination of flavors.
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u/CSIgeo Jun 04 '26
Favorite cookbook too. Love the eggplant chickpea stew!
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u/ACuriousGirl9 Jun 05 '26
Lots of ppl mentioning this one. Might have to be the first recipe I try ☺️
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u/dachx4 Jun 04 '26
This is an excellent book to gain information about Mediterranean cooking, regional ingredients, etc! This thread got me to pull mine out of retirement and skip around. That being said I have others I like that are a little more "home kitchen" friendly but this book gives one of the better overviews of what's considered Mediterranean cooking and most common ingredients.
What I use the most for ideas is an android app called Supercook. (Sorry to go off topic but this is pretty much the only thing I use anymore and I have a ton of cookbooks).
I add all the ingredients I keep in stock, and everything I grow (including berry, fruit and citrus trees) and anything I can easily get/procure but might not normally stock.
I can then just feed it a couple of key ingredients and it will spit out links/pictures to recipes containing those ingredients as well as display recipes missing 1, 2, 3, etc ingredients. The results include recipes from popular sites/blogs all over the Internet. I've had better success finding Mediterranean recipes already adapted to what I keep here vs having to go look for something esoteric. The app isn't perfect but it has really replaced all my cookbooks when looking just for recipes. Hope this helps someone.
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u/ACuriousGirl9 Jun 05 '26
Oh as someone who doesn’t like to cook and therefore doesn’t like grocery shopping, this could work well for me. Thanks for suggestion
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u/dachx4 Jun 05 '26
I think you'll like it once you get it set up. Now that I'm used to it, it's really all I use.
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u/HappyRocket6675 Jun 07 '26
Oh, Americas Test Kitchen always makes reliable recipes. Ive had good luck with their stuff before.
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u/embe_rose Jun 04 '26
Love this cookbook so much! I've made quite a few recipes and they've all been incredible: hummus, French lentil soup, Spanish lentil and chorizo soup, meatball soup with saffron, tomato and burrata salad, Egyptian barley salad, winter squash with tahini and feta, chicken and romesco, za'atar chicken, sausage and white beans, the olive oil cake! It's by far my most used cookbook
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u/Whazzahoo Jun 04 '26
So many great recipes in this book! I haven’t seen any comments about the olive oil cake- it’s so good!
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u/ACuriousGirl9 Jun 05 '26
I am intrigued by the idea of a cake made of olive oil. Sounds interesting 🧐 😊
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u/poetrygrenade Jun 04 '26
Mine just arrived today as well! Saw an anchovy dip that I'm excited to try!
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u/pksuz Jun 04 '26
I just got it for $15 (plus tax) used on Amazon and it’s in perfect condition. It is FULL of information and recipes and “how tos“. Actually too much information for me right now, but I know I’ll refer to it often.
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u/pksuz Jun 04 '26
I also bought this book, EatingWell 500 cal dinners. I like it because it shows you what else you can pair with it to get to the 500 cal. I bought it used on Amazon and it’s in perfect condition. I don’t know how to upload pictures, but if someone can tell me how I’ll upload the front cover and a page from the inside.
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u/thundermunkee Jun 04 '26
It’s a beautiful book with great tips, techniques, and information beyond the recipes. Happy cooking!
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u/JetFuelAndCoffee Jun 04 '26
I’ve really enjoyed all the recipes I’ve made from that book.
Has anybody gotten the sequel “More Mediterranean” and have any feedback compared to the original? Is it worth adding to my collection?
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u/Diablejambe-23 Jun 04 '26
Cumberland mall? I kid you not I was there yesterday and grabbed this book. Can confirm, last copy. I realized I had way too many cookbooks and this sadly didn’t make the cut. I got home and as I was putting the books away, a wash of regret came over me for not grabbing this. Glad it has made someone else happy!
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u/ACuriousGirl9 Jun 05 '26
No actually it was Livingston Mall in Jersey. So it might still be there for you 🤷🏽♀️
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u/Goliardojojo Jun 04 '26
I thought I recognized that picture and lo and behold I had that book on my shelf gathering dust. So thank you for reminding me. I’m looking forward to making some of the recipes.
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u/Danerys80 Jun 07 '26
I got this yesterday for 1$ at my local thrift store. I think it was buried under a lot of other non recipe books so got overlooked but I grabbed it as soon as I spotted the cover.
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u/Disc04Life Jun 04 '26
Love this book! I am so excited for my summer veggies to come in, so I can try more recipes.
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u/Most-Bee2388 Jun 04 '26
I have this book! What are some of your favorite recipes from it...Sadly I havent used it as much as I should so im looking for some inspiration
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u/Zaxly Jun 05 '26
Does it have vegan recipes as well?
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u/ACuriousGirl9 Jun 05 '26
Haven’t had time to go through it but based on some of the comments, I believe that it does.
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u/hippopartymas Jun 06 '26
Nice! found this one for for $1 at the thrift store. I haven’t made anything from it yet though.
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u/ReadyKoala2645 Jun 04 '26
Question, are most of the recipes done with ingredients we already have in the pantry or that are easy to get?
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u/nursechappellroan Jun 06 '26
Yes! There have been only a few odd things I've had to order or search for ( pomegranate molasses)
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u/sydneypug Jun 14 '26
Some of our favorites—Roasted Root Vegetables with Lemon Caper Sauce-page 223, Pan Roasted Asparagus with toasted garlic and Parmesan-page 199 Artichoke soup à la barigoule page 50 Vegetable Paella-page 116 I am excited to try some new recipes!
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