A Greek Recipe for the 5:2 Diet and some Hellenic Memories:
My first visit to Greece was a shock. I was on a Schools Cruise – in the 1970s some of the cruise liners used to rent out space in the bows of the ship to school groups. We flew from London to Athens into blazing sunshine and, after a fleeting visit to the Parthenon, boarded the ship. I remember thinking it was HORRIBLE. Bunk beds, very little space and shared bathrooms. But our first stop made everything worth it. We went to Mykonos, mooring a mile or so from the island and then taking a small boat across. And from there we were ferried to Delos, a tiny uninhabited island full of Ancient Greek ruins. I remember the remains of houses and temples built thousands of years ago. But more than anything, I remember the bluest sea and the brightest flowers.
I didn’t go back to Greece until I’d left home and was at University. My part Greek boyfriend had family living along the coast from Athens and his parents had a flat there. So, we spent several weeks there one summer doing very little. I didn’t even have to cook. Every day one or other of his Aunts would appear while we were at the Beach with trays full of stuffed vegetables, filo pies or pasta dishes. I have no idea how they made the dishes, all I know is that everything tasted delicious and very different to anything I ate at home. Sometimes we’d go out to a local fish restaurant, where trays of fish on ice would be brought out for us to pick from. The most I did was make mayonnaise with vast quantities of Greek olive oil that had been left in the flat or cut up tomatoes for a salad.
Yoghurt with fresh fruit or Greek honey was the perfect start to the day. The yoghurt was nothing like the sort I ate at home, fresh and clean tasting, thick and creamy. It was my first taste of real Greek yoghurt. I suspect it was in some of the dishes my boyfriend’s family brought round too, but since I don’t speak a word of Greek and they didn’t speak English, I never found out. I have, however, learnt since to use Greek yoghurt to baste filo pastry when making dishes like Spanakopita – it’s a lighter alternative to brushing the filo with olive oil that produces a nice crispy pastry.
If you want to make dishes that really taste authentic I think it’s crucial to make sure as much as possible of what you use is sourced from the country where the dish originates. Greek olive oil DOES taste different to Italian (at least the Kalamata type that I buy). It is more peppery and somehow more ‘buttery’. And, herbs like Oregano have a unique taste that I suspect is something to do with what the French call ‘Terroir’ – that combination of climate, soil and geography that differentiates wines from source. In the case of yoghurt, one of the reasons I think Total Greek is so popular is that it is the ONLY genuinely Greek yoghurt widely available in the UK at the moment. And, by that I mean it is made in Greece from Greek milk and Greek cultures. It’s 100% natural and high in protein. And it comes in 3 fat levels. I’d recommend using the highest fat, Classic, for cooking, because it is less likely to split, but I generally eat 0% or 2% for desserts or dips to save on calories! I usually have all three sorts in my fridge because they are great for 5:2 diet fast days – low calorie but high protein which helps to keep you feeling full for longer and with no added sugar or other nasties, so you can use it as you want.
This particular recipe comes from Tonia Buxton, one of my favourite Greek Chefs. And, it’s perfectly suited to the 5:2 diet because it has under 300 calories per serving.
Light Greek style recipe for Stuffed Sea Bream
- 100 g TOTAL Greek Yoghurt
- 4 Large Sea Bream
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 100 g Capers soaked in water to remove the salt then drained
- 30 g Flaked Almonds
- 2-3 Spring Onions finely sliced
- 4 tablespoons Flat leaf parsley finely chopped
- 1 Lemon Juiced
- 4 Lemon To serve
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
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Ask your fishmonger to scale, gut and remove the gills from the sea bream. Wash the fish inside and out under cold running water and pat dry with kitchen paper.
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Place a sheet of foil on a baking tray and pinch up the edges to make a rim. Brush with olive oil. Pre-heat the oven to 200c
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Brush each fish with olive oil inside and out and season with pepper and salt. Mix together the capers, yoghurt, almonds, spring onions, parsley and lemon juice and stuff this into the fish cavities. Transfer the fish onto the baking tray and place in the oven for 20 minutes
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You can tell when the fish is cooked when it starts to flake away from the bone, or when the skin is crisp and bubbles up from the flesh of the fish.
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Tonia recommends serving with gigantes beans and a green salad. I made a small Greek salad with tomatoes and olives which was delicious
Nutritional Information Per Serving: 275 Calories, 39g Protein, 12g fat, 1.3g saturated fat, 2.7g carbohydrates, 1.8g sugars
With honey and nuts.
with honey
Plain – or with fresh fruit
I love it for breakfast with oats, nuts and seeds stirred in and maybe a sliced nectarine. Creamy and delicious!
As it is or with a spoonful of honey but also great in Chicken Tikka
Drizzled with honey.
Like I had it in Greece, with fruit, honey and a sparkler stuck in it 😀
with bananas & nuts
Baked into a lemon cake.
in salads
With oats and fresh fruit
With honey and nuts
I love it with chicken and salad as a sauce, much nicer than mayonaisse
I must be weird. I like it on it’s own!
on jacket potatoes
I love Greek yoghurt with acacia honey best but I put it in everything & on everything. I also love it on rice dishes.
simply with honey
With sliced mango
with strawberries or raspberries
Plain with honey
I love it in soup – just made my first butternut squash soup of the season – would be perfect 🙂 x
with fruit salad
With fruits or berries :}
Goes well with crumble
in a wrap with chicken and cucumber
With fruit or honey and museli for breakfast
I like mine drizzled with greek honey and sprinkled with pomegranate.
in a stir fry with some real peanut butter and tahini
In a fresh fruit smoothie
with fresh fruit salad
I just love it with honey
I like it with fruit.
I like to pour yoggy over crunchy oat cereals.
with honey 🙂
With Honey
mix it with hot choc powder for a no fat choco pud!
With honey, bananas and nuts
ON MY CORNFLAKES
Just as it is as a mid-morning snack.
I love it with blueberries
Honey and dried fruit
With curries!!! MMMMM!
Ideally, with bike themed cakes in Newcastle ….but that’s too far!
Mixed with hot chocolate powder as a healthy chocolate pudding
With lemon and herbs over some couscous.
I add tomato,green onion,salt.pepper and eat from the pot ! For sweet tooth i add cocoa powder and sugar,sooo tasty !
Too many ways, I love adding a big dollop of it to my borscht. Or make a yogurt cake. Or a plain tomato/cucumber salad with spring onions and Greek yogurt, so simple and so tasty
With dried fruit and nuts mixed in.
I like to make a raita out of it
In a tortilla wrap with some lamb and salad
I love it with fruit and honey for breakfast
I love it mixed with buttermilk and garlic, as a topping for grilled aubergines!
Poured all over fruit! with love, faye xx
Over nice fresh fruit
I have used Greek Yogurt in place of cream on a scone – delicious:-)
With banana mmmmm!
I like it on it’s own 🙂
With fruit as a dessert
I LOVE the look of this! Looks lush – I so wanna be greek!
I love it poured over weetabix with mixed berries for a lovely healthy breakfast
with fruit
plain with strawberries and banana
Loving this… great great contest..
Though I routinely use olive oil in cooking, for most of my life I avoided olives and yogurt. Once I realized that it’s the slimy canned black olives I despise and learned there are many types and flavors, I began to enjoy kalamata and various green olives. I’ll use Greek yogurt in specific sauces or dressings and will consume an occasional frozen yogurt.
I always use it with my indian curries (soothes the heat!)
Love greek yoghurt with honey over raspberries
I love eating it as a snack with almonds blueberries and a drizzle of honey.
over strewberrys
at breakfast, with muesli and soft fruits, delicious!
Dolloped on some delicious granola bars 🙂
with some crunchy clusters and berries 🙂 mmmm
over my breakfast muesli with a splash of milk
frozen with raspberries!
I love it with cereal & fruit at breakfast time.
original
Great blog! Keep up the great work 🙂
My favourite way to enjoy Fage is well chilled 2% total greek with warm home roasted walnuts, cashews, brazils, hazelnuts & blanched almonds with warn giant raisins and baked figs. Drizzled with manuka honey. Delicious!
I mix Greek yoghurt with frozen berries, honey and mint in a blender for instant icecream.
I like original on lemon drizzle cake yummy
over weetabix
original my favourate
Over a homemade granola and fruit for breakfast.
With honey and chopped walnuts
i love greek yoghurt with honey, granola and some chocolate chips on top yum!
i enjoy it over my oat crunch in the morning! delicious!
I like it poured over a chopped banana……delicious
Over cereal 🙂
I make a dressing for potato salad using Total Greek Yogurt, American mustard and balsamic vinegar 🙂
That sounds delicious
Its not really greek but I do like the original with some cadburys flakes crumbled into it!
With a bowl of fresh fruit
the original is the best, as you add it to anything, and anything to it
Over fruit for breakfast
I like to enjoy it with hot curries.
I add to my prawn curry and CTM, usually the low fat version.
With honey and chopped pistachios, over chopped fruit xx
I don’t have any at the moment so am learning by peoples comments
To make garlic creamy mushrooms
Tried the Greek Yoghurt Stuffed Sea Bream. Delicious!!!
Greek yoghurt with honey
With some fruit for my breakfast
I love it with honey and a seed & nut sprinkle from Holland & Barrett!
I just love original over a banana
With Muesili !
I love it over fruit, for breakfast.
As a dessert with Honey, yum!
I have tried using it in many ways and I guess I enjoy it most as a base to a sauce or dip. I love moist food so use it when baking cakes too.
original my favourate
My favourite way to enjoy Greek Yoghurt is just to drizzle some honey (from my own hives) over it. Nothing better