This season is full of fresh, juicy, ripe ingredients and we’ve rounded up our favorite summer friendly recipes from The Mediterranean Diet Made Easy Cookbook. Perfect for everything from a light snack, refreshing dinner or even sweet treat.
The Mediterranean Diet Made Easy Cookbook
Someone recently asked me if my Mediterranean diet cookbook has any recipes that are good for summer time meals. Like the true detailed person I am, I flipped through the entire book and tagged all the summer recipes. There are so many!
If you are aren’t aware, in December 2020, I published my very first cookbook, The Mediterranean Diet Made Easy. It’s a great intro to this diet & lifestyle and the perfect Mediterranean diet cookbook for beginners.
If you don’t have a copy, it’s available at the following retailers and lots of local bookstores –
Mediterranean Diet Inspired Summer Recipes
There are so many wonderful recipes in the cookbook that can be adapted to seasonal ingredients. But for the sake of this post, I tried to find recipes that –
- Use seasonal, summer produce
- Don’t require a lot of stovetop or oven cooking
- Filling but light and refreshing
These recipes all come from the cookbook. If you don’t have a copy, check out the bottom of this post for even more Mediterranean Diet Summer recipes here on the site.
Appetizing Small Plates
- Homemade Garlic & Herb Flatbread (pg 45) – light, fluffy flatbread that goes great with grilled chicken or dipped in hummus. A great addition to summer meals enjoyed outside
- Deliciously Easy Goat Cheese Apricots (pg 46) – taste lovely with fresh, summer ripe apricot halves when in season
- Quick & Simple Tortellini Bites (pg 54) – light, refreshing and the best use of summer tomatoes and fresh basil
Filling and Flavorful Lunches
- Garden Fresh Grilled Vegetable Sandwich (pg 60) – a great light lunch made with flavorful grilled veggies and pesto
- Zesty Pasta Salad with Creamy Hummus Dressing (pg 63) – This filling lunch makes a great meal prep item for quick weekday lunches
- Quick & Vibrant Nicoise Salad (pg 67) – One of my favorite lunches, it’s light and refreshing but filled with protein and fiber to keep you full until dinner
- Crunchy Broccoli Salad Bowl (pg 68) – Move over mayo-filled broccoli salad and meet your lighter match. This broccoli salad bowl is crunchy, creamy and packed Mediterranean diet ingredients like dried fruit, veggies and crunchy seeds
- Effortless Shrimp & Avocado Bowl (pg 79) – Bright and citrusy, this no cook meal in a bowl is a time saver thanks to pre-cooked shrimp
Wholesome Dinners
- Grilled Lamb with Pistachio-Olive Tapenade (pg 87) – great on the grill all summer long! The tapenade is filled with fresh herbs.
- Simple Herb-Marinated Pork Chops (pg 91) – a simple garlic and herb marinade make these grilled pork chops a fast, flavorful meal
- Almond and Sesame Crusted Salmon (pg 95) – flaky and tender, this salmon is a light, summer entree
- Mango and Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Yogurt (pg 99) – flavorful, plant based tacos that are light and full of summer fruits and veggies
- Quick Grilled Shrimp with Pesto & Zucchini Noodles (pg 103) – a quick meal filled with seasonal produce, this dinner a go to during the summer
- Juicy Lamb and Mushroom Burgers (pg 104) – step up your grilling game this summer with these BBQ friendly lamb burgers topped with arugula, onion and tzatziki
Healthy Soups, Salads and Side DIshes
- Grilled Halloumi and Fruit Salad with Hazelnuts (pg 120) – juicy, ripe fruit is tossed with fresh mint, crunchy hazelnuts and lightly grilled halloumi cheese
- Farmers Market Panzanella Salad with Creamy Burrata (pg 128) – our ode to summer farmer’s markets all in one bowl
- Crunchy Chickpea Salad with Fresh Herbs (pg 131) – another “no cook” dish that makes a great addition to weekday lunches or BBQ’s
- Vine-Ripened Tomato and Herb Salad (pg 140) – The epitome of summer in a bowl, nothing beats vine ripened tomatoes and fresh herbs drizzled with a zesty olive oil based vinaigrette
- Refreshing Watermelon Gazpacho Soup (pg 144) – This chilled soup is creamy, smooth and slightly sweet making it perfect for warm summer meals
Simple Sweets and Treats
- 3 Ingredient Cantaloupe Sorbet (pg 150)- a refreshing dessert hat only requires 3 simple ingredients
- Grilled Strawberries with Mint & Yogurt (pg 153) – grilled fruit on rich, creamy yogurt is one of our favorite summer treats. It works great with other summer fruit too!
- Traditional Affogato with Creamy Vanilla Yogurt (pg 159) – you just can’t get any simpler than this wonderful, after dinner dessert
- Light and Lemony Olive Oil Cake (pg 160) – a light coffee style cake that has just the perfect hint of lemon
More Great Mediterranean Diet Summer Recipes
If you don’t have a copy of the The Mediterranean Diet Made Easy, don’t worry! We have so many great summer recipes that are Mediterranean diet inspired here on our website.
Check out this collection of 50 Dinner Ideas when it’s Just Too Hot to Cook – a great round up of Mediterranean diet dinner ideas perfect for warm summer nights.
These 13 Mediterranean Diet Summer Salads are full of fresh, summer ingredients with a Mediterranean diet spin.
