ELAINE'S YOGA BOOKS, HEALTHY COOKBOOKS, RECIPES, ARTICLES & SHORT STORIES

SECRETS OF FAT-FREE GREEK COOKING
Click Here For Additional Information, Excerpts, Deliciously Healthy Recipes and Reviews.
YOGI IN THE KITCHEN
Click Here For Additional Information, Excerpts and Yoga-Inspired Recipes.
THE YOGA MINIBOOK FOR WEIGHT LOSS
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THE YOGA MINIBOOK FOR STRESS RELIEF
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THE YOGA MINIBOOK FOR ENERGY AND STRENGTH
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THE YOGA MINIBOOK FOR LONGEVITY
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ELAINE'S HEALTHY RECIPES, ARTICLES & SHORT STORIES
Click Here for Elaine's Healthy Recipes, Articles, Q&A and Short Stories

Secrets of Fat-Free Greek Cooking

Scroll down this page to read more about Secrets of Fat-Free Greek Cooking, the Back Cover Description, Weight Loss Tips, Table of Contents, Excerpts, Recipes, and Book Reviews.


ABOUT SECRETS OF FAT-FREE GREEK COOKING


For those of you who enjoyed the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, check out Elaine’s cookbook, Secret’s of Fat-Free Greek Cooking (Penguin Putnam Avery), and learn more about the world’s healthiest and most delicious diet and cuisine. Using Secret’s of Fat-Free Greek Cooking as a companion book to The Yoga Minibook for Weight Loss can help you achieve and maintain your desired weight goals, make your best food choices, and enjoy a lifetime of delicious, healthful eating and good health. Secrets of Fat-Free Greek Cooking was featured on PBS nationally with the television program, “The Greek Americans”.

SECRETS OF FAT-FREE GREEK COOKING: Over 100 Low-Fat and Fat-free Traditional and Contemporary Recipes
by Elaine Gavalas
Publisher: Penguin Putnam Avery, 1998
Tradepaper 0-89529-862-7

Naturally delicious, low-fat, traditional Greek cooking uses simple, wholesome ingredients and is the perfect antidote to the typical high-fat and high-calorie diet. Now you can learn how to make mouth-watering traditional Greek delights, using the latest fat-free cooking products and techniques, for your eating pleasure. Includes complete nutritional analysis for each recipe and a glossary of commonly used ingredients.


BACK COVER DESCRIPTION


Greeks have a passion for living. That passion has given rise to timeless works of sculpture, architecture, and literature - as well as to a unique Mediterranean cuisine. The art of Greek cooking offers an abundance of aromas,colors and flavors based upon a purity and simplicity that have remained practically unchanged throughout the centuries. Secrets of Fat-Free Greek Cooking not only reveals how to cook authentic Greek dishes, it also tells you how to maximize their nutritional benefits.

In Secrets of Fat-Free Greek Cooking, Elaine Gavalas shares the generations-old Greek dishes that she watched her mother and grandmother prepare from the time she was a child. For her recipes, she has carefully selected vegetarian, fish, and meat dishes that are naturally low in fat or fat-free. In some cases, she has modified an original recipe to lower its fat content while retaining its robust flavor.

This wonderful collection includes such delicious Greek classics as Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmathakia),Spinach Phyllo Pie (Spanakopita), and Baked Eggplant Casserole Moussaka), as well as lamb, chicken, and swordfish souvlakis. Choose from a wide variety of hearty soups and savory pilafs, as well as luscious desserts and sweet treats such as Apple Beggar’s Purse (Milopittes),Lenten Honey Cake (Nistisimi Melitourta), and Greek Jellied Delight (Loukoumi).

Whether you are cooking for a holiday get-together, your family or yourself, you’ll find Secrets of Fat-Free Greek Cooking a treasure trove of timeless Greek classics and contemporary favorites. The gods would approve.


WEIGHT LOSS TIPS


Obesity has become a focus of national concern, since Federal health experts announced that 55% of Americans are overweight or obese. According to experts, if this trend continues, most Americans will be part of a national health emergency.

Since fad diets leading to permanent weight loss are so unsuccessful in the long term, you may want to approach weight management from a holistic perspective that encompasses the mind, body and spirit. By incorporating Secrets of Fat-Free Greek Cooking’s deliciously healthful Mediterranean cuisine into your eating style and the yogic weight loss principles found in The Yoga Minibook for Weight Loss, you can achieve a lifetime of weight loss success, as you enjoy delicious, healthful eating and glowing, good health.

For more weight loss tips and advice, click on the Consultations link at the top of this page.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction
Chapter 1: Nectar of the Gods - Mastering Fat-Free Greek Cooking
Chapter 2: Appetizers - Mezethes
Chapter 3: Soups & Salads - Soupes & Salates
Chapter 4: Vegetable Dishes - Hortaria
Chapter 5: Seafood - Psaria
Chapter 6: Meats & Poultry - Kreates & Kotopoulo
Chapter 7: Desserts - Epidorpia
Chapter 8: Drinks & Sweet Treats - Pota & Glika

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 1


NATURALLY HEALTHFUL GREEK COOKING

Recently, medical researchers have rediscovered that traditional Greek cuisine is the healthiest food in the world. Scientific evidence shows that the rural people of Greece have the lowest rates of diet-linked disease (including breast cancer and heart disease), and the longest life expectancy. The traditional Mediterranean diet includes generous amounts of grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts that are consumed every day. Goat cheese and yogurt are also daily fare. Other foods, such as fish, poultry, eggs, and sweets, are eaten a few times per week, while red meat is eaten sparingly - a few times a month. Olive oil is used liberally, wine in consumed in moderation, and regular physical activity is encouraged.

Health professionals have recognized that traditional Greek rural cooking is the perfect antidote to the typical high-fat and high-calorie diet.


RECIPES


RECIPE FROM CHAPTER 3:

LENTIL SOUP - FAKI
My mother always made this warming, satisfying soup, especially during Lenten fast.

Yield: 6-8 servings

1 cup dried lentils, cleaned
8 cups water, or 2 quarts fat-free chicken stock
½ cup canned tomato sauce
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 sprigs parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1 cup of onion, finely chopped
½ teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1. Place the lentils and all of the ingredients except for the vinegar in a 4-quart pot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. You may need to add water to keep the soup at the desired Consistency. The lentils are done when you can
easily mash them with a fork. Do not overcook the lentils, or they will become mushy.
2. Add the wine vinegar and stir to mix well. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, and serve immediately.
NUTRITIONAL FACTS (PER SERVING)
Calories: 95 Carbohydrates: 17 g Cholesterol: 0
mg Fat: 0.1 g Fiber: 5.4 g Protein: 5.9 g
Sodium: 107 mg

RECIPE FROM CHAPTER 6:

BAKED CHICKEN OREGANO - KOTOPOULO RIGANI
Serve this flavorful baked chicked with Athenian Potatoes (page 65) and Greek Salad (page 48).

Yield: 4 servings

4 chicken breast halves with skin and bone (8 ounces each)
½ teaspoon garlic salt,
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground paprika
2 tablespoons dried oregano, or ¼ cup fresh
Juice of 2 medium lemons (about 1/​2 cup)
1/​2 cup water
Fresh oregano sprigs for garnish (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly spray a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with olive oil cooking spray and set aside.
2. Rinse the chicken, pat dry with paper towels and place skin side up in the baking pan. Working with 1 breast at a time, insert your thumb under the skin and loosen it from the flesh. Lift the loosened skin, and sprinkle each breast with garlic salt, black pepper, paprika and oregano. Replace the skin to cover the seasoned breasts.
3. Combine the lemon juice and water, and pour it over the chicken breasts.
4. Bake uncovered for approximately 1 hour, or until the chicken is tender and the juices run clear when pierced with a knife or fork.
5. Remove the skin from each breast, garnish with fresh oregano sprigs, and serve.
PER SERVING:
Calories: 154 Carbohydrates: 3 g Cholesterol: 65 mg Fat: 4 g Fiber: 0.5 g Protein: 26 g Sodium: 331 mg


BOOK REVIEWS


BOOK REVIEW FROM Publishers Weekly

Exercise physiologist Elaine Gavalas celebrates her heritage by offering healthy traditional recipes in Secrets of Fat Free Greek Cooking. In the introduction, Gavalas contends that “the Greek Mediterranean people have the lowest rates of diet-linked disease and the longest life expectancy in the world”. She finds that their “rural cooking is the perfect antidote to the American high-fat and high-calorie diet. Recipes include Baked Lamb with Orzo, Swordfish Souvlaki and Fig Spoon Sweet.

EXCERPT OF BOOK REVIEW FROM The GreekAmerican

The latest entry in a series of cookbooks featuring fat-free cuisine is Secrets of Fat Free Greek Cooking. Could it be? All those recipes we love without the caloric cost?

On the heels of Secrets of Italian, Indian, Kosher and Chinese Cooking, comes the Greek rendition, written by dietitian Elaine Gavalas, who touts the Greek culinary lifestyle as the perfect antidote to the high-fat and high-calorie American diet. Greek rural cooking, she says, is naturally low in fat, and offers and abundance of aromas, colors and flavors that make every meal a work of art. The author even manages to bring in a bit of dietary Greek philosophy: Aristotle’s maxim that “in all things moderation is best.”

The author watched her mother and grandmothers make many of the 100 dishes in the book. Here she combines that experience with the knowledge gained from studying for a master’s degree and certification from Columbia University, with expertise as an exercise physiologist. The result is a cookbook as much about health as about cuisine, featuring an extensive section of the fat calories and recommended low fat alternatives. A thorough explanation of food label terms and Greek specialty ingredients leave no confusion as to the practical elements of managing a low-fat Greek diet...

From mezedes to deserts, many favorite Greek foods are included in Secrets of Fat Free Greek Cooking. There are recipes for tsoureki, pastitsio, moussaka, yiouvetsi, souvlakia, and faki. Recipe names are given in the English spelling of the Greek word, and also in English translation. For instance, the recipe for koulourakia is also listed as sweet cookies.

The book relies heavily on vegetarian, fish and meat dishes that are naturally low in fat. So there are plenty of recipes for the likes of tomato salad, vegetable soup, eggplant salad, vegetable omelet, roasted vegetables, and cucumber salad. There are also naturally low fat cooking methods already popular in Greek traditional cooking, such as broiling fish, baking chicken and boiling greens. And new inventions: vegetables stuffed with turkey, rather than beef.

The book is well laid out with one recipe to a page,and has easy instructions and good illustrations, where needed. Nutritional facts for a recipe break down the content of each dish. Special sections include topics such as reducing the fat in ground beef, buying fish, preserving and preparing fresh vegetables, working with phyllo, and a guide to greens. There are some reminisces, and even a section on coloring red Easter eggs.

EXCERPT OF BOOK REVIEW FROM The Library Letter
BU Library Reference No. RM237.7.G47 1998

Secrets of Fat Free Greek Cooking is a very good place to start for anyone wishing to get a taste of Greek food...The pages of the book are filled with foods and spices that read so well you can almost taste the lemon, dill, oregano, mint, anise and pepper mingling with the chicken, lamb, chickpeas, sweet peppers, feta cheese, and fillo dough. If your mouth isn’t watering by now, it will be after you have flipped through the pages for a few minutes.

In addition to the recipes, the book takes numerous side trips to discuss various aspects of Greek history, culture, and geography that will tempt you to daydream and linger within its pages. There are also lots of tips about how to prepare the various foods and adapt the recipes to your own taste. Most of the recipes are relatively simple to prepare with almost no exotic ingredients.