♪ ♪ DIANE KOCHILAS: How do you achieve a diet where plant-based foods outweigh meat?

In this episode, I'll show you how to shift the geography of the dinner plate to consume less meat and more plant-based foods.

It is plant-based goodness, literally at its best.

Joining me, my 24-year-old son Yiorgos.

YIORGOS STENOS: [Smacks lips] DIANE: The cooking life is difficult, dear.

YIORGOS:Yeah.

DIANE: We'll be cooking up a classic chicken orzo casserole called Youvetsi with a lot less meat and a lot more veggies.

A burger that marries mushrooms and lamb together.

YIORGOS: If I hadn't seen that we put mushrooms in here, I don't know if I would've noticed.

DIANE: And a stuffed eggplant dish where nuts recreate the feel and texture of ground beef.

Mmmmm...That is so good.

Join me on My Greek Table as I explore how to refocus the geography of the plate to create healthy, plant forward meals that embrace longevity and wellness and are better for the planet too.

YIORGOS: Nothing is left unused in your kitchen.

[Greek music over opening title] ♪♪ ANNOUNCER: My Greek Table with Diane Kochilas is made possible in part by... The Fillo Factory.

Grecian Delight Kronos, A family committed to better eating.

The National Hellenic Society.

And by the following... [Lyrical guitar music] DIANE: What if the secret to a longer, healthier life was as simple as rearranging what's on your dinner plate?

Science shows that reducing the consumption of meat and embracing more plant-based foods can lower the risk of chronic disease, help manage weight, and even add years to your life.

In Greece, like many cultures, meat dishes were a symbol of social status and wealth.

For humble folk, meat was used as an accent to enrich plant-based dishes.

A practice we now know is healthy and the basis of the Mediterranean diet.

Changing the geography of the plate doesn't mean foregoing meat altogether.

It means, eating less of it, so that the balance of foods is weighted more on plants.

On Ikaria, for example, locals found creative ways to stretch a small amount of meat to feed an extended family.

Meat until recently, was for holidays or special occasions.

Greek regional cooking is also packed with recipes that use highly nutritious plant-based ingredients that resemble meat in texture, such as ground nuts, mushrooms, beans, whole grains and more.

We have the power to change within our own hands, and by taking a cue from traditional diets, we can easily and deliciously shift the geography of our meals, making plants the main attraction and letting meat play a supporting role.

I'm here with my son Yiorgos, uh, who is a pretty good cook, but today is all about showing him how to get more, even more vegetables into his diet.

Uh, it's a little phrase that I like to use and that is changing the geography of the dinner plate.

So today, can you guess what I've got here going?

Yiorgos, what we're gonna cook?

YIORGOS: We got zucchinis, peppers.

Is that chicken?

DIANE: That's chicken.

YIORGOS: Orzo... DIANE: Orzo.

So, I'm making Youvetsi.

[Guitar music] ♪ ♪ DIANE: Youvetsi is a very, very traditional Greek dish.

It's typically made with a fair amount of meat.

Things like chicken or lamb or beef.

Orzo is always part of it.

We call this kritharáki in Greek.

And you know, usually there are vegetables in it, but today's recipe, there's gonna be a little shift in the balance.

So, it's gonna be a lot of vegetables and a little bit less meat.

YIORGOS: Sounds great.

DIANE: Okay.

I've never actually seen you cut a pepper, but if you, you know... [snickers] YIORGOS: I think I'm capable enough to cut a pepper... DIANE: I think so too.

You want, you wanna get the crown off and what I usually do is cut around the seed bed and then you wanna cut them into big pieces.

YIORGOS: Okay.

So, little chunks is what we want... DIANE: Little chunks.

Yeah.

And the reason why, I want the vegetables cut a little bit bigger is because I want them to be nice and, you know, chunky so that when you actually eat this, you feel like you're eating something substantial.

YIORGOS: Although, the chicken is still the main protein in the dish, right?

DIANE: The chicken is the protein in the dish.

YIORGOS: Okay.

DIANE: Okay.

You're doing pretty well there, George.

So, we wanna get the zucchini done next.

And you want to cut the tips off and then slice it in half down the middle.

And we want big pieces because this will lose volume.

Anything that has a lot of water in, it's pretty good there, Yiorgos.

YIORGOS: I am the son of a chef, after all.

DIANE: I've already got the onion cut and the garlic.

So, what we wanna do next is cook the onion in a little bit of olive oil.

So, get olive oil into the pot.

Just eyeball it.

You could add just a Yiorgos pinch of salt to that.

You wanna keep it moving?

YIORGOS: So, just a little bit here and there.

DIANE: Yeah.

Just keep an eye on, on it, basically.

That's, you know, the like being when you cook, it's also about being present.

Like, I think we can get the garlic in there next.

That's smelling pretty good.

YIORGOS: Yeah.

DIANE: So far.

The next thing we want to get in are the peppers.

Okay.

And the green peppers.

Stir that around.

[Sizzling] DIANE: The reason I want to get this a little bit softer is because the meat's already cooked.

So, the meat's actually gonna be the last thing that goes in.

We can get the zucchini in here next.

Season it up with a little salt.

We want the zucchini to retain its texture.

We don't want it to get too, too soft.

And the next thing we wanna get in here is the red wine.

So, what we're looking for on the wine is for it to boil.

And when that starts to happen, the alcohol cooks off.

So now, we can add a tomato and give that a toss.

I think we're good.

You don't have to keep stirring it.

That's also another little... YIORGOS: Oh.

DIANE: That's a habit that a lot of people have when they cook.

You don't have to do that.

Let it work for you.

So, let's get all of the herbs and spices in here.

Let's get the, the oregano in first.

YIORGOS: Whole thing?

DIANE: Yeah.

Wanna get the bay leaves in there?

Uh, you wanna get the paprika in there?

Just a little pepper.

YIORGOS: This much?

A little pinch?

DIANE: As much as you like, basically.

I think that's good.

Okay.

And now kanéla, cinnamon stick.

YIORGOS: Mm-hmm.

DIANE: And this, you know, this is a whole nut of nutmeg.

Grate it into the pot like that.

You're not gonna obviously grate the whole thing.

This is very strong smelling.

It's very potent and aromatic.

YIORGOS: Mm-hmm.

DIANE: It smells good, right?

YIORGOS: Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

DIANE: Okay.

Now, the next thing we wanna get in there is the water.

We're not cooking the orzo separately.

It's all in one pot.

This is the real Greek grandmother's way of doing this.

Everything was done in one pot.

And now, we just, you know, we wanna keep an eye on that to make sure that it's not gonna stick to the bottom of the pot.

So now, we just have to wait a bit.

♪ ♪ So about 20 minutes have gone by and it's just the right time to add the chicken, which is pre-cooked and pre-cut.

So, it's not gonna take much at all.

I just wanna warm it through.

So, keep stirring Yiorgos.

YIORGOS: Mm-hmm.

DIANE: And we can get the parsley in.

YIORGOS: So that's like the consistency we're looking for?

DIANE: Yeah, 'cause the, the pasta absorbed all the, you know, all the tomato and, and water, and wine.

Add the fresh parsley and stir it in.

YIORGOS: And parsley is more so for flavor and color, right?

DIANE: Parsley is for a little bit for color.

And you can see it already added a nice kind of bright spot.

Should I get some served?

Ready to taste it?

YIORGOS: Yeah, please do.

DIANE: Happy to serve you some of this, my dear.

Make sure you get a little chicken in there.

I know how much you need your protein and if you want some feta, it goes really well with Youvetsi.

YIORGOS: Yeah, please.

DIANE: So, why don't you taste it and tell me what you taste.

YIORGOS: The first thing that hits me is the parsley and then a little bit of the crunchiness of the zucchini.

DIANE: Mm-hmm.

YIORGOS: And of the pepper.

It's like the texture that I feel the most.

DIANE: I like the feta on top too, because it adds tang.

The chicken is really tender.

All the vegetables in here are definitely, um, kind of the main thing that's happening.

And the orzo, of course is absolute comfort food.

So, this to me is a dish that you can make for yourself.

I hope you think the... YIORGOS: Definitely!

DIANE: ...the same thing.

YIORGOS: It's also something that I feel I would cook for like my friends or something.

Like, we're having a dinner party.

It's easy.

It's something that everybody can eat.

DIANE: It's very Mediterranean.

It's very Greek.

And the orzo obviously is what holds everything together.

But I get a lot of oregano.

I get a lot of cinnamon, I get a little bit of that nutmeg.

All the vegetables add this beautiful freshness, that parsley perks everything up.

The chicken is the, you know, protein pièce de résistance on top.

It doesn't require a lot of technique.

It requires pretty everyday ingredients.

It requires something that's pre-cooked a little bit, so it doesn't take that long.

YIORGOS: It's good stuff, Ma.

DIANE: Thank you.

[Guitar melodic music] ♪ ♪ DIANE: I'm making a really beloved dish: burgers, but not just any burgers.

I'm making burgers that are half mushroom, half ground lamb.

[Guitar music continues] ♪ ♪ DIANE: Using less meat, more plant-based stuff.

So, I've got 50 percent in ground lamb and the other 50 percent in mushrooms.

You wanna do a couple of things here Yiorgos.

YIORGOS: Okay.

DIANE: Have you ever grated a tomato?

YIORGOS: I don't think so.

No.

DIANE: So, you hold the tomato in one hand by the stem end here.

YIORGOS: Mm-hmm.

DIANE: So, you're basically doing that.

So, do that first and I'll, I'll get the mushrooms going and then we'll get, you can work on the onion as well.

YIORGOS: Gotcha.

DIANE: Yeah.

You got it.

Once it gets going, it goes.

[Cutting] DIANE: You just wanna watch your fingertips cause you don't wanna cut them.

YIORGOS: Okay.

I think this is, uh, DIANE: I think you got that.

The next thing I wanna do here is get the mushrooms, uh, ground.

Okay.

[Whirring of food processor] DIANE: And that's basically what we want.

Ground mushrooms.

YIORGOS: Okay.

DIANE: I want you to take in the aroma of that is what we call umami.

YIORGOS: Umami?

DIANE: Umami.

It's a Japanese word and it means this very like aroma.

It's still used to refer to savory things, not sweet things.

YIORGOS: Okay.

DIANE: So now, let's get the tomato pulp into the strainer here.

YIORGOS: Mm-hmm.

DIANE: Perfect.

And we can just let it sit there.

And you wanna grate the onion next.

YIORGOS: Okay.

DIANE: And there's a reason for grating the onion as opposed to finally chopping it or doing it in the food processor.

You get all the juice that way.

And that juice is what makes the burger, gives it a little sweetness.

Cause it caramelizes when you cook it.

YIORGOS: Ah, all right.

DIANE: See, a little trick.

[Grating] YIORGOS: I'm tearing up.

DIANE: The cooking life is difficult, dear.

YIORGOS: Yeah.

DIANE: I think you can probably stop... YIORGOS: Ta da!

DIANE: But you wanna get all the good stuff on the inside of the grater too.

So... YIORGOS: Nothing is left unused in your kitchen.

DIANE: Nope.

This tomato's pretty loose.

YIORGOS: Mm-hmm.

DIANE: Right?

So just let's try to get some of the liquid out just to get the pulp.

YIORGOS: And this is the kind of texture we want.

Like the pulpiness?

DIANE: Basically, yeah.

Like almost jammy.

Okay, let's get that in here.

Okay.

And now this is your job.

YIORGOS: Okay.

DIANE: Let's turn on the heat there and get some olive oil in there.

And the reason why we saute the mushrooms is because mushrooms are almost all water.

The mushrooms, because they're, it's, you know, something plant-based, there's a lot of moisture in that.

So that moisture will make the burgers juicy.

And mushrooms have a lot of the same qualities as meat.

None of the bad stuff, but a lot of the same vitamins and minerals.

It's a great way to get the pleasure of a burger, but make it a lot more healthy.

Um, you can add a touch of salt to that if you want, just to get some flavor in the mushrooms.

So that's about right, because there's still moisture in there.

It's got a little bit of color and it's got the texture that we want, which is very similar to the ground meat textures.

The next thing to go into the bowl is the meat.

And I'm using lamb today.

This is about a half a pound of ground lamb, the garlic.

And I have a Greek oregano, and I have, you know what this is?

YIORGOS: Soy sauce?

DIANE: No.

Worcestershire sauce.

YIORGOS: Worcester.

DIANE: Come on.

You know this from you... YIORGOS: Worstershir... [laughs] DIANE: You're pulling my leg now.

You know this, you know what Worcestershire sauce is?

You know it, right?

YIORGOS: Yeah.

[Mouths to camera "I Don't."]

DIANE: Yeah.

And that goes in to and a little salt and pepper.

I'll let you do that.

We can probably get the mushrooms in here.

Can you, you can get the aroma of that, right?

YIORGOS: Yeah.

Umami.

DIANE: Yeah.

Umami.

[Laughs] You are, you're walking a fine line, dear.

YIORGOS: What do you mean?

DIANE: You don't wanna overwork it.

Because when you overwork the mixture, the burgers get tough.

YIORGOS: Okay.

DIANE: Also, another little trick.

When you make anything with ground meat, it's always good, um, to put it in the fridge for about a half hour or so, just to firm up the mixture.

YIORGOS: Okay.

[Uptempo guitar music] YIORGOS: Alright.

DIANE: Ready to start shaping the burgers?

YIORGOS: Yep.

DIANE: Okay.

So, we'll probably get, at least probably get four, but probably maybe even six out of these.

We don't want them too big.

Now you do the next one.

Grab like a fistful, right?

You wanna just pat it, you know, make sure that it's gonna hold together.

That's it.

You got it.

Uh, get a little bit of olive oil.

Okay.

I think that's good.

Get the second one in there carefully.

YIORGOS: Uh... DIANE: You got it.

Just, just do it.

Don't think about it too much.

Yeah, I think that's good.

I want this to get a little bit more color on the bottom.

So, you wanna flip this one?

YIORGOS: Sure.

DIANE: Okay.

Flip it.

Just be gentle with it.

That's all.

We can start warming the pita bread.

A lot of cooking is first of all not stressing out.

YIORGOS: Mm-hmm.

DIANE: And once you do this once or twice you get the feel for it.

[Laughs] You'll be flipping burgers for yourself soon enough.

YIORGOS: [laughs] DIANE: So, you see these are a little bit more tender than a regular burger would be because they have the mushrooms in them, so there's a little bit more moisture.

So why don't you get the first one off that one.

Okay.

Good job, George.

Perfect.

So, we have our biftékia here.

Our mushroom lamb burgers.

Just let's get this off and we just wanna cut it right?

Get some of the pita there.

Some of the tomato.

This is a platter of Greek biftékia, oregano over that, and a little salt pickled peppers on the platter.

A little bit of yogurt and some lemon wedges.

YIORGOS: Perfect.

DIANE: Perfect.

Right?

YIORGOS: Colorful.

DIANE: So, ready to try the burgers with mushrooms and ground lamb?

YIORGOS: Let's do it.

DIANE: Okay.

Alright dig in.

Let's see what this tastes like.

Hmm.

It's juicy.

YIORGOS: Hmm.

DIANE: What do you think Yiorgos?

YIORGOS: I really like it.

It's interesting.

If I hadn't seen that we put mushrooms in here, I don't know if I would've noticed.

DIANE: That's the whole point.

[Laughs] That's why mushrooms are such a great ingredient in burgers because they are very close to the texture of meat.

They have way less calories, no fat, I don't wanna say substitute, but it's the perfect way to enjoy a burger and make it a lot healthier.

So, what do you think?

Will you make these?

YIORGOS: Yeah, for sure.

DIANE: So, this is our Greek version of a burger.

We call them biftékia in Greek mushroom lamb burgers with umami from mommy with love.

[Lyrical guitar music] ♪ ♪ DIANE: In this part of the world, they say that there are a thousand recipes for eggplant.

And this is definitely one of my favorite rolled grilled eggplant slices stuffed with ground walnuts.

[Melodic music] ♪ ♪ DIANE: What I love most about this recipe is that sometimes I even fool my vegan friends when they taste it because the ground walnuts are so similar in texture to ground meat that they're taken aback.

Then, I have a little bit of a laugh on them, but it's all in good fun.

I want to toast the walnuts first and we just want to get a tiny bit of color on them, but also a dry frying pan will help liberate all the essential oils in the walnuts and that makes them even tastier.

So, while that's happening, I'm gonna prepare grated garlic.

My son skipped out on me on this recipe.

I guess quality time with mama has its limits.

[Chuckles] You wanna move the walnuts around a little bit in the frying pan, so they don't burn.

Sometimes, a little trick, if you're using raw garlic and you want it to be a bit mellow, you can add a little bit of lemon juice to it, softens the flavor up.

This is going into the walnut mixture as soon as they come off the heat and I'll get the eggplant going in the meantime.

We want thin slices on the eggplant and I like to keep the peel on.

I just think it looks better.

♪ ♪ The walnuts are exactly where I want them to be of that nice toasted color.

And I'm getting a beautiful, earthy walnut aroma.

You wanna get them out of the pan because the pan is still hot, so they'll continue to cook in here.

I just wanna show you, this is kind of what we're looking for.

We do want a little bit of color on the walnuts, and they smell really good.

They have almost a smoky aroma.

Let me just oil my grill pan, getting some eggplants in here.

And I will also oil the top.

Eggplant, it will absorb the olive oil, uh, very, very quickly.

But it also ends up having this really nice velvety uh, texture, as a result.

I wanna get started on grinding the walnuts, the mellowed garlic with a little bit of lemon juice goes in here next.

And I have my whole spice palette here.

A little bit of coriander goes in first.

A little bit of cumin, fennel seed, which I love.

There's a lot of flavor in this.

The smoked paprika, a little Petimezi, which is grape molasses, that's very traditional Greek.

DIANE: I'm cooking with my eyes, my nose, and my ears right now.

So, this is telling me that it needs to be flipped.

[Sizzling] DIANE: Just brush the slices with a little bit more olive oil.

We want these to be soft enough to roll.

That's the most important thing to remember.

I also have some herbs here.

I have mint and parsley, and most of this is going into the walnut mixture.

I'm gonna save a little bit for garnish.

And a little parsley and of course, a little bit of salt and pepper.

My ears are telling me to look at the eggplant.

That's the color we want on both sides.

♪ ♪ [Food processor whirring] DIANE: Oh, that is a beautiful sight.

I'm gonna add a drop of warm water to this.

It'll make it easier to roll inside the eggplant slices.

[Whirr of food processor] DIANE: We want this mixture to basically stick together because this is going inside the eggplant, The eggplant slices off the griddle.

Now, we wanna let these cool.

♪ ♪ Now, we wanna fill these, one slice at a time, just taking a little bit of a walnut mixture and then just place that on the eggplant there and then just roll it up.

You see how soft the eggplant is.

That's exactly how it should be.

It's a great example of the kind of plant-based cooking in Greece that leaves you feeling very satisfied, very sated.

It's really packed with flavor.

Really healthy.

Nuts have always been a very, very important part of the diet here.

They're one of the great ingredients of the longevity diet.

Mmmm, that is so good.

And last one.

Okay, time to plate my, these beautiful eggplant rolls.

It is plant-based goodness.

Literally at its best.

DIANE: This food speaks Mediterranean diet for me.

This is like, perfect food.

Okay, time to make these look even prettier.

A little bit of fresh mint, a little bit of fresh parsley and some beautiful color in these pomegranate seeds.

Pomegranate and eggplant go really, really well together.

If you wanna get a little heat onto this.

Very, very subtle.

These are pink peppercorns.

Alright, let's see what these gorgeous eggplant rolls with walnut quote unquote meat tastes like.

Wow, this is so delicious.

The walnuts literally do taste like meat.

They're so hearty.

The eggplant has that cushiony billowy, you know, eggplant and olive oil cooked together kind of flavor that anyone who loves eggplant will understand.

The mint pops out.

The spices are beautifully blended.

So much variety in a small plate that to me, it's absolutely perfect.

♪ ♪ DIANE: For recipe links and information about My Greek Table , visit my website, DianeKochilas.com.

ANNOUNCER: Diane's cookbooks, "The Ikaria Way" and "Athens: Food, Stories, Love" are available to purchase online at DianeKochilas.com or call the phone number on the screen.

My Greek Table with Diane Kochilas is made possible in part by... The Fillo Factory.

Grecian Delight Kronos, A family committed to better eating.

The National Hellenic Society.

And by the following... YIORGOS: Like, straight in... DIANE: Yup, The wooden spoon is probably better for the sound guy.

YIORGOS: Oh, my eyes!

Isn't it bad luck, if you spill salt?

DIANE: You're not supposed to ask questions your mother doesn't know the answer to.

[laughs] Just want to pat it down.

YIORGOS: Don't you feel it?

DIANE: I do.

YIORGOS: Looks like a blob.

Tough cookie, this one.

Ta da!

DIANE: Wait, wait.

YIORGOS: Cut mine a little uneven.

DIANE: No, no one's gonna know that.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪