7 Mediterranean Fall Recipes

Fall is my favorite season.  The weather is perfect, the trees are beautiful and the fall harvest is incredible.  This year is particularly special because in our new home we have pear, apple and peach trees.  Our farm share has an amazing abundance of squash, potatoes, peppers, beets and tomatoes.  We are processing a lot of food for freezing for the winter (including peaches for when our new baby is ready to eat solid food!).  We are also enjoying creating many new Mediterranean Fall recipes.

Here are 7 of our favorite Mediterranean Fall recipes:

Lentil Soup with Olive Oil and Orange

This traditional Cretan Lentil Soup is a hearty and delicious Mediterranean Diet recipe. It’s easy to prepare, and you can prep your other ingredients while cooking the lentils. I love making this soup on Sunday for weekday lunches. Enjoy with a tasty and healthy chunk of sourdough bread.

Lentil Soup with Olive Oil and Orange

Kalamata Olive and Chicken Paella

Most people think of paella as a dish with seafood and sausage, but one of the traditional Mediterranean Diet recipes of Valencia is paella de verduras or vegetable vegan paella.  This paella recipe has over 20 ingredients in it, but don’t let that scare you!  I think you will find that most of the ingredients are in your pantry or are easy to come by at any supermarket.  And don’t worry if you don’t have saffron (oh dear!), it will still taste amazing with or without it!  The saffron I used was only $3.oo and was enough for at least 10 paellas!

Kalamata Olive and Chicken Paella

Sheet Pan Baked Eggplant Parmesan

I love eggplant parmesan, however, it’s usually fried and very heavy. When you fry eggplant it soaks up a lot of oil and if you’re not using extra virgin olive oil, it can be quite unhealthy for you. Baking the eggplant still allows for a crispy exterior but it comes out much less oily. Deep frying is a process that can get very messy. Baked eggplant parmesan is super easy and requires only one cooking vessel, the trusty ol’ sheet pan.

Sheet Pan Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Garlic and Balsamic

When I roast cherry tomatoes I like to make a lot because I use them very quickly and on a daily basis.  They are amazing at breakfast in omelets or on avocado toast or even just by themselves on toast.  For lunch, I add them to salads, sandwiches and wraps.  Dinner possibilities are endless.  Try them on pasta alone or with pesto.  You can top almost any fish with roasted cherry tomatoes before cooking and the wonderful tomato juices will give the fish an out of this world flavor that will make others think you worked harder on the recipe than you actually did.  Use as a condiment for grilled steak or hamburger, as a topping to grilled bread or a filling for stuffed potatoes.  There are so many possibilities that will make your tastebuds very happy.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Garlic and Balsamic

Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs with Peppers and Onions

Think of sausage with peppers and onions, but with chicken thighs instead of sausage, and all of it baked together on a sheet pan for pure ease. Sheet pan meals are becoming more and more popular because you can have a well-rounded meal without dirtying a bunch of pots and pans. I love the presentation of serving it right off of the sheet pan, and it makes clean up easy as well. Leftovers are great too because you can cover the sheet pan with aluminum foil and put it in the fridge, and when your ready to heat it back up just throw the whole thing back in the oven.

Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs with Peppers and Onions

Greek Moussaka (Eggplant Lasagna)

Is there a dish more associated with Greek food than Moussaka? It is one of the most hearty Mediterranean Diet comfort foods the Greek table has to offer. It is not a light fresh dish whatsoever. Greek moussaka is heavy, filling, and incredibly delicious. If you’re going to make this dish, don’t skimp out by baking the eggplant and zucchini instead of frying it. Just go all in. I love the aroma the cinnamon, spices, and red wine gives to the meat mixture as you’re cooking it, it will fill your whole house.

Greek Moussaka (Eggplant Lasagna)

Gratin of Tomatoes and Zucchini

We are very excited to share with you a terrific Mediterranean Diet recipe by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. Nancy is a celebrated food writer and Mediterranean Diet and cuisine expert, who splits her time between an olive farm in Tuscany and her home on the coast of Maine. She is the author of “The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook,” published in 1993. She has written many acclaimed cookbooks and we are sharing a recipe from her latest book, “Virgin Territory: Exploring The World of Olive Oil.” Gratin of Tomatoes and Zucchini is an excellent recipe for summertime, especially with the availability of fresh local zucchini.

Gratin of Tomatoes and Zucchini