Authentic Flavors from a Mediterranean Kitchen
Rachel Mazza
February 14th, 2022. I had this brilliant idea to surprise my girlfriend Luna with homemade heart-shaped margherita pizza for our first Valentine’s Day together. Sounds romantic, right? Wrong. The dough ripped when I tried shaping it. The cheese slid off to one side. And the “heart” looked more like a mutant blob with a tail. … Read more
Okay, so here’s the thing — I completely bombed this salad the first time I made it for my sister Laura’s engagement dinner back in January 2024. Like, catastrophically bad. The burrata was basically soup (I didn’t drain it properly, who knew?), the blood oranges were bitter because I grabbed the wrong variety at Whole … Read more
So… Valentine’s Day 2023. I confidently told my husband Karim I’d make restaurant-quality lobster risotto with saffron for dinner. (Why I thought this was a good idea on our anniversary, I’ll never know.) The lobster was perfect. The saffron? Gorgeous golden color. But the risotto itself? Gummy. Like, weirdly thick and almost… gluey? We ordered … Read more
Okay so picture this: Valentine’s Day 2023, my kitchen looks like a phyllo dough crime scene, and my friend Nadia is standing in the doorway holding a bottle of rose water like it’s evidence. I’d just attempted my first batch of baklava hearts with pistachio & rose water and honestly? They looked like sad, soggy … Read more
March 12, 2025. Meal prep Sunday. My ninth attempt at Greek couscous bowl with harissa vegetables. The previous eight? Gummy couscous pancake (attempt one—didn’t fluff it), bland veggies that tasted like cardboard (two), burnt zucchini that set off my smoke alarm at 7 AM (three), soggy mess by Tuesday (four through six), and harissa paste … Read more
Last August, I completely embarrassed myself at my sister-in-law’s dinner party. I’m talking catastrophically. She’d asked everyone to bring something “light and elegant” and I showed up with— honestly, I still can’t talk about it. Anyway, after 14 test batches (yes, fourteen— my husband Marcus started hiding the receipt from Costco), I finally cracked the … Read more
I’m gonna be honest with you: I destroyed my first attempt at a homemade Mediterranean bowl. Like, impressively bad. This was back in 2019—I remember because I’d just bought this fancy grill and wanted to impress my neighbor, Derek, who’s weirdly competitive about summer entertaining. I threw some dry chicken on there with nothing but … Read more
Look, I’m just gonna say it: my first attempt at lahanorizo was a soggy, flavorless disaster. It was February 2021, my neighbor Yiayia Maria had given me her ‘foolproof’ recipe, and somehow I managed to turn this Greek cabbage rice into what can only be described as… wet cardboard with delusions of grandeur. My husband … Read more
If you’re looking for more protein-packed Mediterranean meals, you’ll love our Mediterranean chicken bowl recipe that uses similar principles for maximum satisfaction.
Okay so here’s the thing. The first time I made lemon garlic chicken with spinach and olives—back in like, March 2019 I think?—it was genuinely embarassing. My husband described it as “interesting” which, if you’ve ever cooked for family, you KNOW is code for “please dear god never make this again.” The chicken was rubbery … Read more