mediterranean diet: healthy menu meal plan #45

calm before the holiday storm

Welcome! I am so grateful that you’ve joined me on this healthy journey + a big thanks to all who choose to support my work with a paid subscription. This letter wouldn’t be possible without YOU! Please hit that ❤️ which helps other people discover my work.

It’s barely the start of the holiday season and I already feel a wee bit stressed. Parties to plan, gifts to find and wrap, ecards to send (sorry Postal Service but expecting physical mail from Spain to arrive in the US in time for the holidays is for dreamers) and most importantly, carving out down time to enjoy a glass and some tapas with friends. In a word, phew.

The other trick is balancing festive foods with healthy nourishing dishes that calm the soul and have me covered for those in-between nights where a warm bowl of lentils is all I want. And this week’s featured recipe in the Healthy Menu Meal Plan is just that.

Besides being infinitely easy to cook with an infinite variety of ways to do it, the lentil doesn’t get as much attention as I think it deserves. It’s a fiber-rich, very affordable source of plant-based protein. It’s a go-to option for iron, magnesium, B vitamins, potassium, and zinc. And it doesn’t much matter what type of lentils you use. They all have slightly different qualities, textures and flavors but all deliver on their healthy promises.

Like creamy red lentils blended in the classic Turkish soup, Mercimek Çorbasi, dark & firm black lentils in a favorite roasted winter salad or big brown lentils baked into a Persian one-pot rice meal - and all three are the bonus recipes in this week’s PDF besides the meal plan I promised you.

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.

Want to upgrade to a paid subscription so you don’t miss out on anything? Everything you’ll want to know to master the Mediterranean diet including exclusive weekly meal plans and recipes, how-to-guides and behind the scenes are all here waiting for you to spend a few Mediterranean minutes with me.