The Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest ways to eat on the planet. It’s rich in fruits and vegetables, olive oil, seafood, nuts, and beans, and it makes good nutrition a pleasure to eat. But what about bread and pasta? Are they AOK to eat as well? Join me on today’s show with guest, Michelle Dudash, RDN as we tackle questions about carbs, kids, and how to enjoy a Mediterranean-style diet with the carbs you love … but fewer of them.
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Michelle Dudash is an award-winning registered dietitian nutritionist, Cordon Bleu certified chef, a TV personality, and the founder of Dash Dinners Spice Kits. She’s the author of the top-selling Clean Eating for Busy Families, which was featured back in Episode 53. Michelle shares the benefits of a low-carb Mediterranean diet with recipes and tips from her newest cookbook, The Low-Carb Mediterranean Cookbook: Quick and Easy High-Protein, Low-Sugar, Healthy-Fat Recipes for Lifelong Health. We are discussing a few recipes from the book, including Simmered Tahini Chicken and a Berry Tart with Almond Flour Crust that is low in carbs.
Cookbook Giveaway:
We’re giving away a copy of The Low-Carb Mediterranean Cookbook: Quick and Easy High-Protein, Low-Sugar, Healthy-Fat Recipes for Lifelong Health. Leave a comment below telling me about your favorite Mediterranean recipe, a Mediterranean recipe you’d love to have lightened up, and/or why you’d love to win a copy. I’ll pick one lucky winner at noon on August 11th.
Looks so good. No wonder this is Michelle’s favorite dessert in the book.
Show Highlights
- Michelle’s life in Indiana as a mom of two daughters and a regular on local and national TV; she spends her time in recipe development, cookbook writing, and designing her Dash Dinners spice kits
- How Michelle’s Lebanese heritage set the foundation for her love of the Mediterranean diet
- Why kibbeh was a childhood favorite for Michelle; it’s a traditional dish made with ground meat, seasonings, and bulgur wheat
- How carbs fuel our bodies with energy
- Why kids need healthy carbs from whole grains, fruits, and veggies but how some parents and adults want to cut back a bit
- Michelle’s new book: a mix of recipes — salads, veggie side dishes, seafood, dessert — with readily available ingredients
- Michelle’s favorite recipe in the book: Grilled Chicken Gyro Lettuce Wraps, which are made with chicken thighs marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, garlic, thyme, oregano, and salt and pepper and then served with a tahini sauce or cucumber yogurt sauce
- From the book: Simmered Tahini Chicken made with chicken tenders sautéd in olive oil and combined with onion, garlic, chicken broth, tahini, lemon juice, and soy sauce. To serve, top with Greek yogurt and freshly chopped herbs
- Michelle’s daughters’ favorites from the new book are Fruit Tarts and Mini Molten Chocolate Cakes
- Michelle’s Berry Tart with Almond Flour Crust is made with butter, honey, cinnamon, salt, dark chocolate, mascarpone cheese, and topped with fresh berries
- Healthy salads in the book include a Lebanese classic made with iceberg or Bibb lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and a dressing made with lemon juice, mint, olive oil, and salt; the other salad is made with kale, blueberries, feta cheese, walnuts, and a basic vinaigrette
- Michelle’s experience in Croatia with a delicious adult beverage made from sparkling rosé with fresh herbs, elderflower liqueur, orange zest, and grapefruit-flavored sparkling water
- Michelle’s advice for one change you can make for better health: “Plan a family meal and sit down to enjoy it together.”
Resources:
Michelle Dudash on Instagram
Michelle Dudash on Facebook
Michelle’s website
Connect with Liz Weiss:
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Website: Liz’s Healthy Table
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Have a question about the show or a suggestion for a future show? Ask away by posting a comment below or joining my Podcast Posse
For other podcast episodes, check out:
SATISFY; Healthy Recipes That Hit the Spot with Mona Dolgov
A New Vision for Healthy Eating in 2021 with Maya Feller, MS, RD
The Power of Potatoes with Amy Myrdal Miller, MS, RDN
I love how Mediterranean food is healthy, colorful, and tasty. My favorite thing to make is chickpea salad with cut up cucumber, tomato, sweet pepper, artichokes, feta, chickpeas, and Greek dressing with lemon wedges on the side when served.
Better yet … let’s have that meal in Greece. Now we’re talking!
Baklava! Very tasty but not too healthy. Although everything in moderation so maybe small pieces?
Yes. Everything in moderation. I love baklava. The honey!!
Mediterranean diet=great…low-carb Mediterranean diet=even better!
Is Tabbouleh too much of an extended cousin? I have to say I haven’t met a hummus that I didn’t love but sometimes the ‘add-ins’ can flip the dish towards the unhealthy side.
Would LOVE the cookbook to expose my little constituent to other food genres shall we say, before I take her there myself!
Tabbouleh is spot on! And I’m with you on the hummus. I love it.
I love the fresh flavors of the Mediterranean! I feel so alive when I eat that way. Thanks for this podcast episode; I’m inspired to use my garden parsley for tabbouleth.
I would love a health gyro recipe for the family. I would love a low carb Mediterranean cookbook as my family and I try to eat low carb and we just loved our time in Greece a few years ago.
Congrats on your book!
I’ve finally coaxed myself away from the traditional American diet (and I don’t mean “tradition” in the nice sense at all… Perhaps I more mean the convenience diet) and I’m eating things like quinoa and lentils on the daily. Mediterranean foods appeal to me because they coincide nicely with how I’m trying to eat lately. But my recipe knowledge is really scarce!! I would love to learn more ways to prepare the good foods that I’m learning to really love.
Tahini thinned with some freshly squeezed lemon juice, a bit of water and fresh or dried herbs can jazz up a chicken dish, roasted veggies, chopped salads — pretty much anything,
I also experimented and made tahini cookies substituting tahini for nut butter. It was so simple and so tasty. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but it did not disappoint!
We love Mediterranean meals in our home. Hummus is a staple in lunches (and one of the ways my 6-year-olds will eat fresh veggies). We would love to have this cookbook, as lower carb meals in the evening are very helpful for controlling my son’s t1d.
Love Mediterranean food, and ways to make this lower carb are super exciting to me as I face that menopause weight creep! Can’t wait to find new cooking and dinner inspiration from these recipes
I would love to have a lighter, Mediterranean version of beef stroganoff using chicken thighs and/or meaty tasting mushrooms and perhaps zucchini ribbons or a hearty grain pasta, if there is such for the noodles.
I have a lot to learn, and would love the cookbook. I want to follow a Mediterranean way of eating not only for health but for taste. It is my favorite food when dining out.
Love Mediterranean food, but I definitely tend to make more of the European ones.. I’ll be curious to see this cook book. Gyros and all things Greek I love too. Hummus is a favorite.
My favorite dish would be Gyros. I am very interested in your version with lettuce. I worked at a hot dog place many many years ago and my boss was Greek. He would make Gyros and homemade tzatziki sauce. And of course baklava. It was wonderful. I was raised eating German cooking so this opened my eyes to a fresh new way to eat. I would love to have a copy of your cookbook to learn some love- carb ideas. Thank you for all that you share .
My favorite Mediterranean recipe is Baked Lemon Garlic Salmon
I love to eat tziki and lemon marinated chicken, Greek salads. I think this cookbook would help me increase my veggie intake and eat healthier.
I’d love to get a copy of this book. Need new inspiration for low carb high taste meals!
Greek salads with feta, kalamata olives, green peppers, tomatoes, romaine, oregano, olive oil and lemon juice – YUM; and then there’s tabbouleh with LOTS of parsley; hummus with pita; baklava for sure; so much goodness! Being part Sicilian I know I would enjoy a cookbook like this 🙂
My grandfather came to the United States through Ellis Island as a teenager from Greece…maybe that’s why I am drawn to all Mediterranean foods! I love chicken souvlaki, grilled Halloumi and grilled pita bread. I would love to know how to lighten spanakopita. I enjoyed your podcast and would love to have your cookbook!
Eggplant eggplant eggplant! Love this Mediterranean ingredient. All ears as to low carb recipes. I love the breads (pita) and beans (hummus) of Mediterranean fare but as a low carb follower I eat little beans and bread. I lost 60+ pounds last year with low carb and would LOVE some alternatives.
Sounds like your weight loss journey was a success. How are you doing now? Are you feeling successful with weight maintainence?
Love the Mediterranean meal plan!
I love Mediterranean food but need to lose some weight after gaining some this past year or so! Would love to win this cookbook! 🤞
I love making baba ghanoush, grilling the eggplant until it’s falling apart, and then blending that with lemon, garlic, and tahini. I’ll put a big dollop next to whatever is on my plate – scrambled eggs, veggies, bread. Yum!!
I love trying different recipes… hummus is a go to for me.
I love hummus. Also love cucumber tomato salads with feta. Mediterranean dishes are most always delicious!
I like Mediterranean food for all of the veggies and fresh ingredients.
I love minestrone with pasta and parmesan cheese.
I’ve been using your recipe reviewer chart this summer as we explore new recipes in our family and it has been such a great success! My kids ages are 7,9 and 11 and they have even helped make some of the recipes. This cookbook would be great to give us some more recipes to try!
Fantastic. What are some of the new foods they’ve tried?
Listening to this episode I was really surprised to hear the registered dietician Michelle Dudash talk about her love of the dish kibbeh, comprised mainly of raw meat. I know you were quick to point out to your listeners that you DO NOT recommend consuming raw meat, and you moved on. My question is if the dietician Michelle Dudash does eat it regularly, does that mean it can be safe to consume? She has been educated in nutrition, and presumably food safety as well, so does she know something the rest of us don’t? I was taught that all raw meat carries bacteria levels, some of which can be dangerous, even deadly. Is this not always the case? I’d love another dietician’s insight.
I reached out to Michelle and I’ll share her answer once I hear back from her. Thanks!