The Ikaria Way: 100 Delicious Plant-Based Recipes Inspired by My Homeland, the Greek Island of Longevity

by Diane Kochilas

Diane Kochilas' new cookbook that brings the plant-based cuisine of Ikaria to your dinner table.

Ikaria is an island in Greece where people live to a ripe old age, sometimes living well past 100. Diane Kochilas, host of the television series My Greek Table , is a daughter of Ikaria. The Ikaria Way is her latest cookbook and is filled with easy, contemporary recipes rooted in her background and steeped in the ancient Greek traditions of plant-based cuisine.

As Diane says, Greeks are almost vegan, but they’d never call themselves that. The array of plant-based dishes in the Greek diet is unsurpassed anywhere else in the Mediterranean. Diane’s pantry, and the one she suggests for readers, is culled from the traditions of the Mediterranean and is full of ingredients that have long given food its herbs, olive oil, nuts, and more. The recipes in The Ikaria Way are simple, almost entirely plant-based, prepared with real food and almost nothing processed, save for the occasional can of tomatoes. Readers will love meze like smoked eggplant with tahini and walnuts or baked chickpeas and pumpkin patties. There are wonderful salads combining strawberries and asparagus and robust mains like white bean stew with eggplant.

The Ikaria Way brings the healthy-eating recipes of an ancient island to readers everywhere. It is destined to take its place alongside Diane’s other books on the shelves of all good home cooks who want healthy eating and robust, delicious flavors on the same plate.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Greece, Foodie, Health

272 pages, Hardcover

Published March 26, 2024

Reviews

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t made anything out of this book, but there are some great sounding recipes. I only wish there were more pictures. We do eat with our eyes after all.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Garlicky Red Lentil Soup is so good.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite sections: salads, beans.

This book had helpful info about antioxidant-rich ingredients and research-backed health benefits of certain foods. Generally well-written and easy to understand. I found the recipes to be interesting and creative. I wish gluten-free alternatives to wheat grains were suggested but I know I can figure that out myself 🙂. The salad and beans sections were the most inspiring to me, and the ‘mains’ section seemed to have quite complex recipes so I haven’t bothered trying any of them.

Overall I liked this and recommend this book to anyone interested in nutritious Mediterranean recipes. One of my favorite cookbooks is “How Not to Die” by Michael Greger because of staple ingredients & super simple recipes. “The Ikaria Way” gives very similar vibes but more complex recipes.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed cooking the recipes in this cookbook. More importantly, I enjoyed eating the prepared dishes. After searching Diane Kochilas's website, I really have the desire to attend a weeklong cooking school in her kitchen on Ikaria. She has a program on PBS and I try to catch every show. She has a very soothing voice and prepares dishes that I not only want to eat but want to serve to family and friends.

[Joni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every recipe I've made of Diane's, and I've checked several out of her cookbooks from the library, has been very good.
Having just visited Ikaría, Greece, I tried several more recipes from this and her other books, of dishes we ate while there. Sorry I'm not listing them here, but I'm too full to get off my chair...

[Susan Ciliberti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ikaria is an island that can be held as an ideal for longevity as a majority of its citizens live well into their 90’s and beyond. The recipes in this book were the Mediterranean Diet on steroids. The majority has a large number of ingredients and were vegan. I couldn’t find any that motivated me.

[Kathleen Johnstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book. I wish there were more photos of the recipes. Several recipes I look forward to trying. There is a small section of main dishes, and most of it is side type things. There are also some drinks, and some of them I absolutely want to try.

[Gayle Pritchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having fallen in love with her cooking show, I was intrigued when I saw this in the new books section at my library. There are plenty of interesting recipes for plant-based esters; always a treat for me.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous photos! I made the red beans with hot pepper flakes & fresh herbs. They were unusual and tasty; I’d make them again. I want to make the vegan moussaka, but didn’t get to the more elaborate recipe. The salads looked lovely, but I’d need a special grocery shop.

[Astrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok for the recipes, but I wouldn't call it strictly plant-based, that's a stretch, which even the author admits.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of tasty-sounding recipes, sans meat. Beautifully illustrated with photographs of Ikaria and the dishes prepared.
I'm looking forward to trying several of these recipes!

[Sue Brans · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband liked some of these recipes, but they are all time-consuming and require a lot of ingredients.