We're all about the Mediterranean Diet around here. Truth be told, it's more of a lifestyle than a typical, restrictive diet. The Mediterranean Diet puts the focus on healthy, whole foods that we love eating anyway. And it's kind to wine. What's not to love? It also takes well to slow, flavor-building preparations. With that in mind, we've put together a list of convenient slow-cooker recipes that feature Mediterranean Diet-friendly foods.
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Slow Cooker Mediterranean Roast Turkey Breast
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"Easy to make, flavorful, and creates a wonderful aroma to come home to," says Chris. You'll simply simmer a boneless turkey breast in the slow cooker with kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, Greek seasoning, and chicken broth brightened with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Pam made a couple adjustments: "I added hot pepper rings for spice and a can of garbanzo beans. Near the end I added a can of artichoke hearts. Excellent!"
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Slow Cooker Mediterranean Beef with Artichokes
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"Yum, this is a delicious dinner," says Buckwheat Queen. "The meat was so tender and the sauce this recipe creates is fantastic. Leftovers made an excellent sauce for pasta."
In this vegetarian recipe, butternut squash, eggplant, zucchini, and frozen okra cook slowly in a flavorful, seasoned tomato sauce. "A wonderful, wonderful stew that is easy to make," says Tiffany. "The amazing flavors meld together so well and create such a surprisingly deliciously and unique dish!"
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Slow Cooker Chicken Marrakesh
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Strips of boneless, skinless chicken breast combine with garbanzo beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, canned diced tomatoes, and plenty of seasonings. "Excellent," raves the Occasional Cooker. "A delicious, easy, healthy, and budget-friendly one-dish meal. The flavors blended nicely and it smelled wonderful while it was cooking."
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Slow Cooker Mediterranean Lentil Stew
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This is an easy, excellent slow cooker recipe. Just mix the ingredients and let it cook. "Delicious!" says CookingForDummies. "Spiced with cumin and coriander and flavored with tomato paste, this veggie-filled lentil stew will keep you warm for winter, and all year round! Good with a loaf of fresh-baked rustic bread! Vegetarian and vegan. Serve with a piece of bread for dipping."
Here's a Spanish-style slow-cooker recipe that combines beef with olives, potatoes, garlic, and onions with sofrito, the flavorful Spanish tomato and green pepper-based condiment, which is a terrific cooking base. "Very easy to make," says Caroline. "It reminded me of cacciatore. Added carrots for that real beef stew feel. Delicious."
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Mediterranean Chicken with Pepperoncini and Kalamatas
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Chicken cooks low-and-slow over a bed of pepperoncini, olives, and garlic in a creamy lemon sauce. "The combination of flavors was wonderful," says Tiffiecancook. "When the meat was gone, we saved the sauce and used it to spoon over rice and grilled pork chops a few days later. Cookingcub adds: "This is an excellent low-cal dish without the sour cream," she says. "I've made it with and without, and found it to be great either way."
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Chicken Cacciatore in a Slow Cooker
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Chicken breast halves simmer slowly with spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, diced bell peppers, garlic, sliced mushrooms, and simple seasonings over low heat. "My family loved this," says mvukas. "The chicken was so tender and juicy. I held the mushrooms out and sauted them in butter and red wine."
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Slow Cooker Vegetarian Minestrone
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A hearty vegetarian minestrone soup that's loaded with vegetables and macaroni. "Slow cooking this soup allows all the flavors and spices to intensify and delivers a delicious, hearty meal," says laura. "Serve with a green salad and garlic bread for dipping."
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Slow Cooker Mediterranean Lentil Soup
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"My family is from Greece and this lentil soup recipe is adapted from my traditional Greek lentil soup (fakes) recipe," says Diana Moutsopoulos. "Since becoming a mom, finding time to cook has been hard, and this soup was a perfect slow cooker candidate. My husband and I think it tastes better than when made on the stove. Baby loves it, too!"
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Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken and Vegetables
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Seasoned chicken simmers with chickpeas, diced tomatoes, artichoke hearts, carrots, onions, and garlic. You'll add green beans and bell peppers toward the end of cooking. "This delicious slow cooker meal of chicken and vegetables pairs up nicely with couscous and pita bread," says DebMCE4.
Check out our collection of Mediterranean Diet Recipes.
Buy in Bulk: The Mediterranean diet lends itself to buying food in bulk—which means saving money on packaging. Nuts, whole grains, dried beans and spices are all easily found in the bulk section of most grocery stores. Shop the Sales: When you hit a sale, stock up if you're able.
Slow cookers are great for cooking cheaper cuts like beef brisket, pork shoulder, lamb shoulder and chicken thighs. You can also use less meat, as slow cooking really extracts a meaty flavour that permeates the whole dish. Bulk up with vegetables instead.
Key ingredients of Mediterranean cuisine include olive oil, fresh fruits and vegetables, protein-rich legumes, fish and whole grains with moderate amounts of wine and red meat.
The foundation of the Mediterranean diet is plant foods. That means meals are built around vegetables, fruits, herbs, nuts, beans and whole grains. Moderate amounts of dairy, poultry and eggs are part of the Mediterranean diet, as is seafood. In contrast, red meat is eaten only once in a while.
This seven-day Mediterranean diet plan helps you practice those habits with help from good-for-you foods and delicious Mediterranean diet-inspired ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for a full week of healthy eating. At 1,200 calories you're on track to lose a healthy 1 to 2 pounds per week.
The Mediterranean diet is centered around whole grains, such as farro, millet, couscous and brown rice. With this eating style, you'll generally want to limit your intake of refined grains such as white pasta and white bread. When you're following the Mediterranean diet, red wine should be your chosen alcoholic drink.
Classics like chicken Alfredo, pepper steak, beef & broccoli, chicken cacciatore, and more might just taste even better in the crockpot (and are certainly way more hands-off than their skillet or baking dish counterparts).
Choose the right cut: Chuck roasts, short ribs, pork shoulders and lamb shanks (think fatty and tougher meats) become meltingly tender with the moist, low heat of a slow cooker. Leaner cuts like pork tenderloin tend to dry out. Likewise, dark meat chicken — thighs, drumsticks, etc.
There are always Mediterranean food classics like shawarma, falafel, tomato cucumber salad that goes with everything, and the simple but delicious Greek salad, but there are also many brand-new recipes with exciting modern twists that have quickly become some of the most loved recipes on the site.
Choose Lean Proteins: Focus on fish and poultry over red meat. Include beans, nuts, and other plant-based proteins. Moderate Wine Intake: If you consume alcohol, switch to wine and drink in moderation. Stay Active: As the study suggests, coupling the diet with regular physical activity yields better results.
Those nine categories—vegetables, fruit and nuts, legumes, dairy, oils, cereals and grains, meats, fish, and alcohol— made up the 9-point Mediterranean diet score on which the research is based.
Sugary beverages are strongly linked to weight gain and replacing them with water can reduce your overall calorie intake and promote weight loss. Eating whole foods over processed ones is another reason the Mediterranean diet may help you reach a healthier weight.
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