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The Mediterranean Recipe

Authentic Flavors from a Mediterranean Kitchen

Avatar of layla Benalilayla Benali

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Greek lamb meatball meal prep bowls with lemon rice, cucumber salad and tzatziki in glass containers

According to food scientist Harold McGee, the trick is keeping everything cold and working quickly. The fat in ground lamb starts softening at room temperature, which means over-mixing happens way faster than you’d think. I like to chill my mixing bowl for 15 minutes before starting—sounds extra, but the difference is honestly wild. Lamb has a higher fat content than beef (around 20-25% in most ground lamb), which is actually great for meal prep because fat = moisture = meatballs that don’t turn into sandpaper by Wednesday. If you’re looking for other protein-rich Mediterranean options, check out my Mediterranean Chicken Meatballs for a lighter alternative.

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: Greek yogurt panna cotta topped with honey and fresh raspberries in clear glass

October 12th, 2023. My dinner party for eight was in three hours, and my tiramisu looked like cottage cheese (thanks, expired mascarpone). In a panic, I called my friend Maria – honestly, she’s saved more dinner parties than I can count – and she said two words that changed everything: “Greek yogurt panna cotta.” I … Read more

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Mediterranean hummus breakfast bowl with creamy hummus, soft-boiled eggs, fresh vegetables, and warm pita bread

Here’s what food scientist Harold McGee talks about in his work—protein in the morning stabilizes blood sugar better than carb-heavy alternatives. The chickpeas in hummus provide plant-based protein that digests slowly (we’re talking a glycemic index around 28, which is impressively low). Combine that with eggs—each one delivering about 6 grams of complete protein—and you’ve got sustained energy that’ll actually last until lunch. Unlike my old cornflakes situation where I’d crash by 10 AM and end up eating questionable vending machine snacks.

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Colorful Mediterranean falafel bowl with tahini sauce and fresh vegetables

Okay so there I was on November 3rd, 2023, standing in my kitchen at 7:14 PM (why do I remember the exact time? Because I took a photo, obviously), staring at what could only be described as falafel carnage. My cousin Sarah had challenged me to make a falafel bowl with tahini that was “actually … Read more

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Spaghetti aglio e olio in white bowl with garlic slices and fresh parsley

So there I was at 11:47 PM on March 23rd, 2024, absolutely starving after a disaster of a dinner party (don’t ask about the soufflé… just don’t), and my fridge looked like the apocalypse had visited. Like, I had half an onion, suspicious yogurt, and exactly three eggs. But then I remembered something my Italian … Read more

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Italian chicken casserole with pasta and melted mozzarella cheese in white baking dish

Look, I need to tell you about March 14th, 2021 – the day I ruined my sister’s engagement dinner with the worst Italian chicken casserole you’ve ever seen. Watery sauce pooling at the bottom, rubbery chicken, pasta so mushy it looked like baby food. My sister (bless her) took one bite and said “It’s… interesting?” while her fiancé Marco – who’s actually from Naples – just stared at his plate like I’d personally insulted his ancestors.

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: Creamy pesto chicken pasta bake in cast iron skillet with bubbling mozzarella and fresh basil garnish

The secret, which took me approximately fourteen failed batches to figure out, is starch water. When you reserve a cup of your pasta cooking water and add it to the sauce, those starch molecules act as emulsifiers—Kenji López-Alt explains this way better than me in The Food Lab—keeping everything silky instead of separated. Also, I undercook my pasta by exactly 3 minutes because it finishes cooking in the oven. Overcooked pasta in a casserole is a crime against humanity.

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Creamy chicken orzo with spinach Parmesan and lemon in white bowl

Orzo is basically the overachiever of the pasta world. It’s shaped like rice but behaves like pasta, which means it releases starch as it cooks—and that starch is crucial for creating a naturally creamy sauce without needing a ton of heavy cream. Harold McGee explains in On Food and Cooking that pasta starch molecules absorb liquid and swell, then release some of that starch back into the cooking liquid.

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Authentic spicy penne arrabbiata in white bowl with red pepper flakes and fresh parsley on rustic wooden table

Listen, I need to tell you about the night I almost burned down my kitchen making spicy penne arrabbiata. It was March 14th, 2019 (yeah, Pi Day—ironic for someone who can’t do math), and I’d invited my crush Marco over for dinner. I thought, “How hard can Italian pasta be?” Um. Turns out when you … Read more

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Green goddess chicken salad with fresh herbs

But then I found this green goddess chicken salad recipe online. At first, I thought “green goddess” because it  sounded kind of weird. Wasn’t that some old dressing my mom used to put on salad? But something about all those fresh green herbs made me curious enough to try it.

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