Diane Kochilas

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

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🇬🇷 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/

If you could grill seawater…it would smell like this stuffed grilled quid!.
There are dishes that feed you. And then there are dishes that transport you.🦑🇬🇷

Along the Athenian Riviera, in the old seaside tavernas just outside Athens, stuffed calamari has long been one of those dishes.
Fresh squid filled not with breadcrumbs and excess, but with what Greece does best: beautiful cheeses, handfuls of herbs, zesty lemon, great olive oil, and a sense of balance.🍋🌊

ℹ️For this version from My Greek Table, season 3, I combine salty feta with mild sheep’s milk cheeses, fresh dill and mint, then grill the squid just long enough to pick up that incredible sweetness from the sea.
And when it hits the grill…I always think the same thing:
If you could caramelize seawater, that’s what it would smell like.
What I love most is that this dish feels luxurious without being heavy — exactly the kind of cooking that defines so much of coastal Greece.
Athens is more than the Acropolis — it’s fish tavernas, Riviera sunsets, and recipes like this one.

✨️If this transported you somewhere warmer, the full My Greek Table episode and recipe video are waiting for you on YouTube.

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🇬🇷 Classes / walks / trips

💬Tell me:
What dish instantly tastes like summer to you?

The most famous party island in Greece has a food secret almost no tourist ever finds: Kremmyodopita, or Onion-Cheese Pie.😍

Way back in season 3 of My Greek Table, I arrived in Mykonos and headed straight past the clubs — into a farmhouse kitchen, where local chef and cooking teacher, Eirini Zouganeli, showed me how to prepare kremmydopita: a savory onion-and-cheese pie that has been made on this island for generations.

ℹ️We made it with tyrovolia — a fresh local cheese — handfuls of dill, spring onions, and a homemade dough built on olive oil and a splash of raki. This simple, ancient, delicious savory pie took about an hour to bake. It is quite different from other cheese pies from around Greece, or from those found in Athens.

Alas, even the most touristed places in Greece have their traditions, and I love discovering them and sharing them with you.

This is the Mykonos I love. 🪴

📌 Full kremmydopita recipe → link in bio
👉 Watch the full recipe video on my YouTube Channel → https://youtu.be/QAGcwwqHqXA
👉 Tag someone you'd drag off a cruise ship to find this pie.
👉 Want to make phyllo and savory pies like this at home? I teach it in my Fearless Phyllo online class — link in bio.

If you’ve ever traveled to Mykonos…what was your favorite dish?

In Ikaria, nobody calls this a "health food."
They call it briam and it’s a Greek summer classic. Home cooks make briam when the zucchini and eggplant come in from the garden, the tomatoes are heavy and juicy, and there's a bottle of good Greek olive oil at arm’s reach on the counter. It tastes extraordinary and the leftovers are even better the next day.😍

The longevity part — the fiber, the antioxidants, the olive oil science — Greeks have been eating this way for centuries. Fresh, seasonal, mostly plant-based foods enriched with life-giving olive oil and herbs.🌿

ℹ️This version has one technique most briam recipes skip entirely: the ladolemono marinade. Before anything goes in the pan, every vegetable gets tossed — by hand, thoroughly — in a whisked mixture of Greek olive oil, lemon, garlic, and oregano. It rests for at least 20 minutes. The potato and eggplant absorb the marinade into their flesh. The flavor is inside the vegetable before it ever touches heat.

Slow-roasting and the final charring make this both absolute comfort food and exciting on the palate! I add a slab of feta in the middle of the hot dish, and leave it to soften and go golden. Toasted walnuts add plant-based omega 3s, protein, fiber, and magnesium.

Health, flavor, everyday fresh ingredients, and easy to make. It’s a win-win no matter how you serve it!💚

🔖 Save it to make it this weekend!
Question for you: what does your family's version of briam look like? Same vegetables? Different ones? Do you add any other protein? I always love hearing how this dish lives in other Greek kitchens — and beyond.
📩 Comment BRIAM and I'll send you the full recipe in your DMs.
🌿 Full recipe at the link in my bio — dianekochilas.com

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🇬🇷 2026 Ikaria Cooking Retreats — cook in my kitchen, walk the herb paths, eat at the village feasts. We’re booking for 2027. Space is limited and spots fill fast!

Memorial Day is coming — and this is your new favorite thing to bring to the table. 🫒

Phyllo Pizza with Artichokes, Tomatoes and Feta. Crispy. Bright. Shareable. And just maybe one of the easiest things you'll ever make.
This recipe is from Season 5 of My Greek Table — the "Phyllo for Healthy Fun" episode — and it completely changed how I think about snacking. Because phyllo isn't just for pies. It's a genius vehicle for getting more plants, herbs, and olive oil onto your plate without even trying.

Tomatoes. Olives. Bell pepper. Fresh parsley. A little feta. A little Kefalograviera. Layered between crispy, olive-oil-brushed phyllo and baked into golden squares you can set right in the center of the table.

That's Mediterranean diet snacking done right — abundant, plant-forward, and made for sharing.

💬 What are you making this Memorial Day? Drop it below 👇
🔗 Full recipe → link in bio
📩 Weekly Mediterranean recipes in your inbox → subscribe via link in bio
🏛️ Learn the art of Greek plant-based cooking in Ikaria → classes at link in bio
▶️ Watch Season 5 of My Greek Table on YouTube — subscribe so you never miss an episode

‼️People are always surprised when I tell them that Ikarians eat pork.

They expect the longevity island to be all lentils and wild greens. And yes — that's the foundation. But meat has always had a place at the table here. In the traditional diet, meat was either a treat on special occasions or eaten in small portions together with lots of plant-based ingredients (think stews).🌿

These grilled bone-in pork chops marinated in olive oil, lemon, garlic and oregano — are finished with a green herb sauce inspired by my Ikarian garden: Parsley, dill, mint, olive oil, lemon, garlic. It takes a few minutes to whip together and makes everything taste healthy and bright!💛

Serve with greens for even more yummy nutrition. Squeeze more lemon. Pour more olive oil than feels reasonable. That's the Ikarian way.🍋🇬🇷

💬 Do you eat meat? How do you think about balance on your plate?

🔗 Full recipe + more Greek longevity recipes → link in bio
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🏛️ Join my Ikarian cooking classes → link in bio
▶️ Watch on YouTube — subscribe so you never miss a recipe

I've filmed here for My Greek Table, I've eaten my way through its markets more times than I can count, and I keep coming back — because no city in Greece layers history, culture, and food quite like this one.🇬🇷

Three thousand years of Byzantine, Ottoman, Jewish and Macedonian life, all of it alive on every table.

The bougatsa pulled fresh from the oven for the best breakfast on earth! To go, too!
The mezedes that arrive in waves and never seem to stop.
The Pontic cheeses you won't find anywhere else in Greece.
The tavernas along the waterfront where the White Tower glows at sunset and nobody is in a hurry to leave.

👉️This is why Thessaloniki is one of the centerpiece stops on my Ancient Athens to Enchanting Istanbul journey this October — three full days to actually feel this city, not just pass through it. From Aristotle Square to the Royal Tombs of Vergina to the vineyards of Macedonia, this is northern Greece at its most magnificent.
And the food? Locals will tell you it's the true Greek food capital. After everything I've eaten here — on camera for My Greek Table Season 3 and off camera for pure pleasure — they may be right!😍

Two spots remain on the October tour.
📩 Email [email protected] to join us.
🔗 Full tour details at the link in bio.
💬 Have you been to Thessaloniki? Tell me your favorite dish or memory below. 👇

This Fresh Pea Fava with Ouzo & Feta on Toast is literally easy-peasy and perfect as a beautiful spring meze for Mom. It’s happy food – seasonal, delicious, Mediterranean diet approved (!) and healthy! It's Greek meze at its most joyful.

Silky mashed fresh peas swirled with Greek extra virgin olive oil, a splash of ouzo, sun-dried tomatoes, bright dill, and crumbled feta piled onto toasted whole-grain bread. It looks like a garden. It tastes like love. 💚🫧🌿

This is the kind of dish that takes classic Greek fava — that beloved yellow split pea meze — and transforms it into something fresh and seasonal. All you need is about a half hour, a pan and sweet spring peas in peak season and flavor!

💚 Save this for Mother's Day brunch — she'll love you for it!
📩 Sign up for my newsletter and get my free e-book at the link in bio
🌿 Full recipe at dianekochilas.com
🎓 Ready to go deeper? Join me with your mom in one of my Ikaria classes next year! — link in bio

Full recipe at the link in bio 🔗 👉 dianekochilas.com

Spanakopita is the classic Greek spinach phyllo pie that everyone loves. It takes some time to prepare, of course, something we don’t always have even when we want to enjoy something nutritious, delicious and packed with Mediterranean diet goodness. Soooo, I’ve made the perfect snack for you: Spanakopita Nachos!

Crispy homemade pita chips stacked with a savory spinach-and-feta filling, finished with lemon zest, pink peppercorns and fresh dill. (OK, yiayia wouldn’t have done that!) But it still has all the soul of the original — in under 40 minutes, no phyllo required.

This is what the Mediterranean diet actually looks like in a modern kitchen – it’s playful AND healthy. And of course very tasty. And…yup, great as a mom’s day snack if you’re planning to host a lunch at home!

These are the kinds of ingredients our Greek grandparents ate every day, reinvented for time-pressed cooks looking for something fun, easy and healthy:

✔ High in plant protein & good fats
✔ Gut-friendly
✔ Naturally vegetarian & gluten-adaptable
✔ Built on the longevity principles of the Greek diet

Spanakopita Nachos are my kind of fun recipe – rooted in tradition, built for real life.

🔗 Full recipe + more Greek longevity snacks on my website (link in bio)
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▶️ More recipes on my YouTube channel — subscribe so you never miss one.

💬 Tell me: do you have a family recipe you love but never have time to make the traditional way? Drop it below — I might recreate it next. 👇

No one diets in Ikaria. And they live to 100.

My family is from this tiny Greek island in the Aegean — one of the world's five Blue Zones, where heart disease is rare and people forget to die. What they eat is not complicated. But it works.

This bowl is built on the exact ingredients that have kept Ikarians alive for generations: lentils and whole grains for complete plant protein, chickpeas for slow energy, wild greens for polyphenols, walnuts for omega-3s, all dressed with lemon, oregano, garlic, and the best Greek olive oil you can find.

No one counts calories. No one feels guilty when enjoying a meal. We just embrace food that knows how to take care of us.

This is what I mean when I say the Mediterranean diet is not a diet. It is a way of eating that has stood the test of centuries.

Full recipe → link in bio 📖

Would you eat this every day — or do you have a longevity food you swear by? Drop it below 👇

🫒 Want to cook and eat like an Ikarian for a week? Join me on the island — cooking classes booking now for 2026. Link in bio.