Diane Kochilas

There are dishes that make you stop and say — this is why I love Greek cooking. 🇬🇷

ℹ️Kalogeros is one of them. A Naxian casserole of braised beef, eggplant, feta and graviera cheese — humble ingredients that lead to extraordinary results. And the story behind it is just as beautiful as the dish itself.

I made this on Season 3 of My Greek Table on PBS and I can still taste it! The full episode and recipe are on YouTube now — the link is in my bio, and I'd love for you to come cook along with me there.🥰

✔️If you're not subscribed to my newsletter yet, that's also where I share the recipes, the food history, and the places that inspire all of this. Join us — link in bio.

Fun fact: Kalogeros means "monk" in Greek — the dish is named for a mountain on Naxos where monks once lived and worked the land.
Tell me: have you ever cooked with Naxos graviera? Or visited the island?
👇

Welcome to Taste Athens! — the most delicious few hours you'll ever spend in Greece. 🇬🇷 In this video, join me and my team of passionate local foodies as we wander through the heart of Athens — from Syntagma Square all the way to the legendary Athens Central Market — tasting, discovering, and falling in love with this incredible food city.🇬🇷

👉 Here's a taste of what we explore: 🥧 Flaky, golden savory pies and Aegean island pastries 🧀 Rare, complex Greek mountain cheeses you won't find anywhere else 🍯 Raw regional Greek honey and extraordinary extra virgin olive oils 🫒 The full rainbow of Greek olives — varieties you've never tried 🍷 Sips of regional Greek wines and a little tsipouro (aka Greek firewater 🔥) 🥩 Unusual charcuterie and cured meats from across Greece 🍞 Artisan breads, confections, and so much more
Athens is the beating heart of the Mediterranean diet, and one of Europe's most underrated food capitals.

Every stop on this walk tells a story: of Greek food history, regional traditions, and the hidden architectural gems tucked between the city's vibrant streets.

📖 Want to dive even deeper into Athens' incredible food culture? Grab a copy of my book Athens: Food, Stories, Love — a love letter to this magnificent city and its table. 🔗 [Link in bio]

👟 Ready to walk, taste, and fall in love with Athens yourself? Taste Athens! Food Walks run in small groups of 12 or fewer — intimate, personal, and unforgettable. Private and specialty walks are also available for food professionals, passionate foodies, and anyone who wants a truly customized experience.

📅 Book your spot now → dianekochilas.com/athens-walks ✉️ Private walks: [email protected]

This is what hospitality looks like on a plate. 🫓
Crispy on the outside, herby and golden within — these baked chickpea and pumpkin patties are the kind of food you make to pass around, not to eat alone. They’re made with humble pantry staples but transformed into something genuinely delicious.😍

ℹ️In Greek culture, offering food isn't optional — it's who we are. And according to mind-body scientist Dr. Esther Sternberg, that act of giving — of sharing food with someone — actually releases dopamine and endorphins in the brain. Hospitality is medicine. Full stop.
This recipe is from Episode 510 of My Greek Table Season 5: The Flavors of Longevity.

👉 Full recipe at dianekochilas.com — link in bio 👉 Watch the full conversation with Dr. Sternberg on YouTube — link in bio
💬 Tell me: who would you make these for?

Hot eggplant. Cold yogurt. Honey that bites back. 🍆🍯

This is what summer tastes like on Ikaria — the Greek island where people forget to die. And this dish is exactly why.

Deep-scored eggplant glazed with Greek wildflower honey, Aleppo pepper, and garlic. Roasted hard at 425° until the score lines caramelise to amber and the flesh collapses. Blistered tomatoes, crushed toasted walnuts, fresh mint and parsley — all landing on a swoosh of cold, full-fat Greek yogurt.

The cold yogurt isn't just contrast. It's intentional: heat destroys the live cultures. This is the longevity trick hidden in plain sight.

Want to eat like this every day? Come to Ikaria with me. Link in bio 🔗

👉 New videos every week on my YouTube channel — more Blue Zone cooking, more Greek recipes, more stories from the island. Link in bio.
📩 Join my newsletter for recipes, travel stories, and exclusive content: dianekochilas.com

💬 Tell me: have you ever cooked eggplant with honey? Drop your version below — I want to see it. 👇

What if going without food — strategically — was one of the most powerful things you could do for your body? 🌿

I sat down with renowned biogerontologist Valter Longo to talk about something most of us have never considered: the science of the Fasting Mimicking Diet, biological age, and what our own Mediterranean food traditions have quietly known for centuries.

This episode of My Greek Table Season 5: The Flavors of Longevity is called "Delicious Abstention" — and it's one of the most thought-provoking conversations I've ever had on this show.

We covered:
→ What the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) actually is — and who it's for
→ The difference between your biological age and your chronological age
→ How fasting may support fat loss without sacrificing muscle
→ The role of autophagy and cellular regeneration
→ Why Greek and Italian food cultures may have been practicing longevity nutrition all along
→ What "eating less" can actually mean for your health span

Greek food has never been about deprivation. It's always been about rhythm, quality, and intention. Hearing Valter frame the science around traditions I grew up with made me realize once again that there is inherent wisdom in the way we eat here in the Mediterranean.

🎬 Full episode streaming now — link in bio.
🎬 WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL — link in bio or here:
👉 https://youtu.be/JOV1Nnb1cPA

💬 Tell me: have you ever tried fasting, intermittent fasting, or a fasting-mimicking approach? Did it work for you — or does the whole idea make you nervous? Drop your experience below 👇 I read every comment.

This is not traditional melitzanosalata.
And I mean that as a compliment.
One of the things I love most about Greek food is that it has never stood still. We inherit dishes, but we also reinterpret them.🇬🇷
This version starts with smoky roasted eggplant — but then goes somewhere unexpected.🍆🔥

It has tahini for silkiness and body, miso for depth, and petimezi (grape molasses) for sweetness and balance.
The result is rich, savory, smoky and comforting—all while still feeling unmistakably Mediterranean.😍

ℹ️This recipe appeared in Season 5 of My Greek Table, Flavors of Longevity, in the episode Hospitality on the Plate, because hospitality isn’t about preserving food like a museum piece. It’s about making room at the table for new things, too. All the better if they’re built upon tradition.
This recipe also appears in my newest book, Athens: Food, Stories, Love — because Athens today is exactly this: rooted, curious, and open to new ideas.❤️

Watch the full recipe video and tell me:👇️
Would your yiayia approve…or raise an eyebrow?

▶️ Watch the full recipe on YouTube 👉️ https://youtu.be/uKS2vS0syqw
📘 Discover more recipes and edible stories in Athens: Food, Stories, Love (link in bio)
📩 Join my newsletter (link in bio)
🇬🇷 Explore classes, walks & trips

‼️Most people ruin tomato fritters.
Not because of the batter.
Because they don’t respect the tomato.🍅

Tomatokeftedes are one of Greece’s great summer foods — traditionally associated with the Cycladic islands, where ripe tomatoes become something completely different once they hit hot olive oil.☀️🇬🇷

▪️The secret isn’t frying.
▪️It’s draining.
▪️Coarsely chop or coarsely grate the tomatoes.
▪️Salt lightly.
▪️Wait.
▪️Then squeeze through a sieve or cheesecloth.

That one step gives you everything you want:
crisp edges, soft centers, concentrated tomato flavor.
For this version I’m using chickpea flour instead of wheat flour — both to make them “healthy,” but also because chickpea flour doesn’t get gummy and I love the nutty flavor and delicate crispness it creates.

Then comes my favorite part (serving):
▪️Hot fritters.
▪️Cold Greek yogurt.
▪️Lemon squeezed over them.
▪️The contrast is everything.

Save this for tomato season.
▶️ Full recipe at the link in bio
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🇬🇷 Explore my classes, Athens walks and Greece trips

❓️QUESTION
Team:
extra yogurt or extra lemon?🥣🍋

The biggest mistake people make with oyster mushrooms?
They don't press them while cooking.‼️

ℹ️Most mushrooms release water as they cook. But when you press oyster mushrooms (pleurotus) against a hot grill pan, something completely different happens. The moisture evaporates, the edges become crisp and caramelized, and their flavor transforms into something rich, savory, and almost meaty.
It's one of the simplest techniques in the Greek kitchen—and one of the most delicious.😍

These are marinated in ladolemono, Greece's classic dressing of olive oil, lemon, garlic, and oregano, then served over cool Greek yogurt with fresh herbs and Aleppo pepper.

➕️And here's the bonus: oyster mushrooms are rich in antioxidants, fiber, and compounds that researchers are studying for their role in healthy aging, immune health, and overall wellness.

This is simple food, with big flavors and even bigger wisdom!

Would you try this instead of meat?
👇 Tell me below.

🔗 Full recipe: Link in bio or visit https://www.dianekochilas.com/greek-pressed-oyster-mushrooms-ladolemono-yogurt/

📺 More Mediterranean diet and longevity recipes:
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🇬🇷 Join me in Ikaria:
www.dianekochilas.com/ikaria-classes

✈️ Travel with me in Greece:
www.dianekochilas.com/greece-trips

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Ikaria: This is my home.
The garden is in and growing — lettuces onions, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, peppers, herbs.
I always add flowers too. I love all the colors, especially against the stone walls, and that Greek blue sky and sea.🌺
I was just in Ikaria getting everything ready for our June classes and being there reminded me that life is so much better when meals are part of the day instead of squeezed into it.☀️

We cook almost entirely from the garden. Mostly vegetables. Well, almost. Because what would Greece be without lamb — and what would Ikaria be without a slow-roasted goat once in a while?

✅️But mostly it’s simple food: olive oil, greens, beans, seasonal vegetables, local cheeses, herbs. It’s the kind of cooking that makes you feel good.

During the week we cook, milk goats, make cheese, visit the beehives, taste local honey, sit at the table longer than we meant to, and somehow by the end everyone knows everyone.
That part is always the best for me.

And – yes – we dance!
If you’ve been thinking about joining us, we’re booking our 2027 classes now.👇️

🌿 Ikaria Classes:
https://www.dianekochilas.com/ikaria-classes/
📩 Newsletter:
https://www.dianekochilas.com/subscribe/
🇬🇷 Greece Trips:
https://www.dianekochilas.com/greece-trips/

📌Save this for later.
Send it to someone who’d come with you.

❓️Question:
What would you want to do first—
cook from the garden, make cheese, visit the beehives, or just sit and watch the sunset?

Smashed Giant Beans with jammy tomatoes & feta. This doesn’t look like longevity food. That’s part of the charm.😉

People imagine healthy eating as restrictive, but on Ikaria — one of the world’s original Blue Zones — meals like this appear again and again because they’re truly satisfying.🧡

Creamy giant beans.
Jammy roasted tomatoes.
Good olive oil.
Fresh herbs.
A little feta.

And 2️⃣tiny techniques change everything.👇️

🍅Smash a few of the beans and tomatoes with the back of a spoon or fork. That moment creates a silky natural sauce created from the olive oil and tomato juices, to become something greater.

🍋The other secret: lemon zest as an amazing flavor boost.

ℹ️Research continues to point to legumes as one of the strongest dietary predictors of longevity — but Ikaria’s lesson isn’t really about beans. It’s about cooking in a way that makes healthy food irresistible.

This is pantry cooking at its absolute best.🔝

Save this for summer.

▶️ FULL RECIPE: at the link in bio

📩 Join my biweekly newsletter and get recipes, stories, and all things Greek and edible: https://www.dianekochilas.com/

🇬🇷 Want to cook and eat this way with me?
Ikaria Classes: https://www.dianekochilas.com/ikaria-classes/

Athens Food Walks: https://www.dianekochilas.com/athens-walks/

Greece Trips: https://www.dianekochilas.com/greece-trips/