healthy mediterranean diet meal plan #12
Since everybody’s invited to the party today (free and paid subscribers alike have full access to the first menu of the month), I wanted to mix it up a bit and share some snaps of how today’s menu came together. If you just want to cut to the chase and download the PDF right away, scroll to the bottom of the newsletter and hit the download button. But for dedicated Substack pals like Joey from Australia and Linda from the US who’s waiting for my perfect poached egg trick, I owe it to them to do a little show-and-tell.
I’m so lucky that Alicante’s famous Mercado Central is only a 5-minute walk away. It means I have my pick of fresh fish and seafood, meats, cheeses, eggs, pastas, nuts and seeds, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and some exceptional local wines (even the “no label” ones!) almost every day.
Four different types of clams were on offer today at my favorite seafood vendor. So I picked a nice mix of two different varieties to use in today’s recipe. And - insider tip - parsley is always provided free-of-charge by the seafood vendors to anyone who asks.
Then I walked around the corner aisle to find some impeccably fresh and tender linguine from the pasta guy.
“No label” wine deals were just a few feet down the next aisle over, so it seemed like an opportunity to try something new. I picked a dry Albariño from the north of Spain.
And I headed home to soak the clams in salted water for about 30 minutes so they’d be nice and clean and sand-free, while I prepped the handful of other ingredients we’d need for the dish.
But if you don’t happen to have a neighborhood fish monger with fresh clams, an equally good option is to make sure you have plenty of canned (or tinned as some say) clams at the ready. I consider them a Mediterranean diet pantry essential and you should too.
Now that everything’s assembled and I’ve put some well-salted pasta water on to boil, we’ll need about 15 minutes more before sitting down to this centerpiece of today’s Menu of the Day.
Starting by heating up some extra virgin olive oil over medium heat (don’t let it get so hot that it smokes!) and adding some chopped shallot and plenty of garlic.
Then layering on my best trick to keep that sea-salty, briny theme going with a tin of omega-3 rich anchovies that will melt right into the sauce. When you use anchovies, you don’t need to add any extra salt and you get the added advantage of another serving of healthy seafood to your week. Plus, for those folks adverse to oily fish like sardines and anchovies, I’d defy you to be able to even tell they’re there!
A healthy handful of parsley, some dry white wine, clam juice and finally…
All those lovely clams. Lid on for about 6-7 minutes until they reveal their little morsels hidden inside. And while that’s happening, the fresh pasta goes into the pot. In a lucky stroke of kitchen serendipity, it will be al dente in the same time it takes for the clams to finish up!
For the finishing touches, we’ll add some lemon juice, lemon peel, one tiny tablespoon of butter so the sauce becomes ever so luscious and silky.
Finally, pile on the pasta and gently blend it all together. From central market to center of table in less than 30!
Since the day starts with a light breakfast including poached eggs, the perfect poached egg trick can be found in the PDF too. And this week, I’ve also included my favorite Everything Green sauce that can truly be used on, well, everything. This season’s spring vegetables, new baby potatoes, drizzled over salmon or white fish, smeared on a sandwich or the roasted vegetable burrito wrap I’ll be having for lunch!
And sticking with the “let’s eat more seafood” theme… how about another small serving of sardines for an afternoon snack?
So 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 stories are all here waiting for you to spend a few Mediterranean minutes with me.
You are blessed that you live that close to such a wonderful fresh food market
I tried your method of poaching eggs and now I won’t make them any other way. The eggs were the perfect texture, silky and soft. I put them on whole grain sourdough toast and had an orange and strawberries on the side. Yum! Thank you, Caroline, for elevating my breakfast to a whole new level!