mediterranean diet: healthy menu meal plan #36

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You’ve probably heard the phrase “eat the rainbow” because each color signals different nutrients. It’s a great mnemonic to help you remember to get lots of variety in your everyday diet of fruits & veggies.

Now normally, you wouldn’t be expected to eat them all in one dish, but that’s the magic of this week’s featured recipe. Ratatouille, also known as Pisto Manchego here in Spain, is the entire rainbow in one meal - not to mention one of my favorite movies!

And that got me to thinking that you might be wondering what all these colors do for you. The secret is in the pigment and here’s a little rundown of the 5 basic categories:

PURPLE/BLUE (ratatouille’s eggplant)

Anthocyanin is what gives blue/purple fruits and vegetables their distinctive color. In a nutshell, its antioxidant properties protect cells from damage and can help reduce the risk of cancer, stroke and heart disease.

RED (ratatouille’s tomatoes & red bell pepper)

Red fruits and vegetables get their color from lycopene. Lycopene is another powerful antioxidant that can help reduce the risk of cancer and keep our heart healthy.

ORANGE/YELLOW (ratatouille’s yellow bell pepper)

Carotenoids are captured in the sunny colors of orange and yellow. There are two different ones to think about: betacarotene (converts to vitamin A) & lutein. Both have a direct impact on your eye health, reducing the likelihood of cataracts & age-related macular degeneration.

GREEN (ratatouille’s zucchini & green bell pepper)

Green vegetables contain a bunch of phytochemicals including carotenoids, indoles and saponins, all of which have anti-cancer properties. And although we’re not adding leafy greens such as spinach, chard or kale to today’s dish (although you certainly could fold them in at the finish of the dish if you want to), it’s nice to know these greens are also excellent sources of folate.

BROWN/WHITE (ratatouille’s onion & garlic)

Another healthy phytochemical is allicin, known for its antiviral and antibacterial properties and found in onions, garlic, shallots, leeks & chives. Some members of the white group like mushrooms, cauliflower and potatoes are also good sources of fiber, potassium & resistant starch.

If you’re interested, I’d encourage you to do a little more homework online and create your own “seasonal color charts” that match up to your healthy goals. After all, coming up with personalized color palettes isn’t just for what’s in your closet!

But now, back to this week’s luscious, color-packed recipe. The vegetable bits are a little less chunky than the French version, the flavors are as garden fresh as you could imagine and the Spanish crispy-edged fried egg topping turns this healthy side dish into a full scale one-bowl dinner.

But I’m not gonna kid you, this dish requires a fair amount of prep (unless you are like me and bought a food processor that actually dices things in nice little squares), so psyche yourself up for about 30 minutes of quiet time in the kitchen!

If you’re interested in a step-by-step, you can follow this link to watch my video. I was pretty heavy handed with the olive oil (used way more than the recipe really needed), but we had enjoyed a very productive harvest and had almost more olive oil than we knew what to do with - even after spreading as much as we could among family and friends!

As always, you’ll find a few extra recipe treats in the menu PDF besides the meal plan I promised you (mostly because I just can’t help myself). They’re all recipes from the archives that are also featured in today’s menu, so that you don’t have to go hunting around for them.

If you’re already a paid subscriber then you know these little extras show up almost every week as a small bonus to show my appreciation for your support. If you haven’t yet had the chance to join us, what are you waiting for?

But right now, it’s time to pull up a chair, grab a cup or a glass and join me in my Mediterranean kitchen while we work our way from one flavor-packed meal to another.

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