Midwinter Mediterranean Recipes: Healthy Budget Cooking
- Martin Hesp
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Escaping the Winter "Meat-Fatigue" with Simple, Sunny Plant-Life
Turkey, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, ham (both home cooked and Iberico) and tongue—not to mention numerous sausages, bacon, and a few other carnivorous delights. Having got that little lot down last month, I thought I’d write about vegetarian food.
Somehow the old body cries out for a little light and easy-going, easy-to-digest, plant-life.
The Seasonal Dilemma
Of course, it would be a lot easier in summer. Salads—whacking great big salads filled to the brim with nourishment from the garden. That is exactly what I would eat by choice right now. I suppose it would be easy enough to pop into a supermarket and buy some of those ready-picked and washed salad leaves, a few greenhouse tomatoes, a cucumber and a pepper or two.
But I, like many people, have a thing about seasonal eating. I am certainly not religious about it, and will drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over a bowl of Canary Island tomatoes happily enough—especially if I can add a handful of the herbs that still bravely grow in my garden.
Somehow though, it seems to miss the point. All those un-ecological food miles that the tomatoes have flown, all those poly-tunnels where the artificial fertilisers are used with enthusiastic abandon… Having once over-wintered near Motril on the Costa de Sol, I know what goes into the average Spanish iceberg lettuce—and not a single crunchy but tasteless leaf of the stuff has passed my lips since.
The Magic of the Dried Bean
The sunshine taste of the Mediterranean can be enjoyed, however, with the help of a pulse and a bean or two.
The secret is to get your act together and give your hardened dried vegetable jewels a plunge in water the day before you intend eating them. Or you can buy them in a can. What could be more instantaneous than a simple salad made of cannellini beans, sliced red onion, and a hefty sprinkling of parsley?
Martin’s Tip: If using dried beans, pour on extra virgin olive oil just after you have drained them while they are still warm. This prevents sticking and heightens the flavour of the eventual vinaigrette.
Three Simple "Sunshine" Dishes
1. The Piquant Bean Salad
To your cooked beans, add a substantial vinaigrette made from the best extra virgin olive oil you can afford, lemon juice, and a spoonful of French mustard.
Add a Kick: Throw in finely chopped chillies and sun-dried tomatoes.
The Umami Twist: Add half a clove of garlic with some anchovies crushed in a pestle and mortar.
Make it a Meal: Add a couple of cans of tuna fish to feed a crowd for under two quid!
2. Moroccan Chickpea & Fish Tagine
Chickpeas are remarkably adaptable. For a warming fish tagine, you'll need:
1kg of fresh white fish (locally caught is best).
Garlic, paprika, ground cumin, and chilli pepper.
Pre-soaked and boiled chickpeas.
Simmer the fish and spices in olive oil for 30 minutes, add the chickpeas with a little of their cooking water, and simmer for another 10 minutes. It’s exotic, warming, and brightens the coldest February day.
3. Sicilian Puy Lentils with Spaghetti
Lentils are the "food of paupers" with the flavour of kings. My favourite way to serve Puy Lentils was taught to me by a Sicilian friend:
Boil Puy lentils until al-dente.
Fry garlic and onions in olive oil until soft.
Break spaghetti into inch-long sticks, boil, and drain.
Combine everything in a large bowl with copious amounts of top-quality olive oil, sea salt, and cracked black pepper.
Saving the "Poor Old Body"
Dried pulses rate as one of the most inexpensive foodstuffs you can purchase. If you have an electronic Instant Pot, they don’t even take much energy to cook—reducing chickpea cooking time from 90 minutes to just 30.
I for one will be taking the simple, sunny, healthy, Mediterranean route to cooking in the next few weeks to save the poor old body from the heavier excesses of midwinter.
Editor’s Choice: More Healthy Winter Inspiration
If you enjoyed these Mediterranean ideas, you might also like these recipes and tips from the archive:
Chickpea and Spinach Curry: A grounding, spiced dish perfect for supporting gut health after the festive period.
Healthy Winter Recipes & January Wellness Tips: More ideas for using woks, winter walks, and real food to beat the "sluggish" midwinter feeling.
The Secret to Real Moroccan Flavours: A deeper look at the spices and techniques that make a tagine sing.
Warm Winter Meals with a Mediterranean Twist: Why the "sunshine taste" of pulses is the best way to bridge the gap until spring.
