Traditional Briam Recipe

One of our favorite summer dishes is a traditional Greek recipe that brings smells, memories and yumminess from summer holidays and grandma’s care! It is called Briam and is the celebration of our veggie garden on a plate.

The ingredients that we use are seasonal and freshly picked up from our garden- or from the local farmers’ market. Eating seasonally is nurturing our body with whatever needed in order to remain in harmony with the environment and stay healthy. This traditional dish is based on zucchini, potato, onions and tomato but you can use other seasonal veggies as well (like aubergines or peppers) if you like.

Nutritional information

Zucchini is a wonderful source of potassium, a heart-friendly nutrient that helps moderate your blood pressure levels and counters the effects of too much sodium. In fact, a zucchini has more potassium than a banana. Zucchini is rich in B-complex vitamins, folate, B6, B1, B2, B3, and choline, as well as minerals like zinc and magnesium. It also contains essential minerals such as iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

Tomatoes are antioxidants. They also help control blood sugar and lower blood pressure and have Summer cooling properties.

Preparation time:20 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

8 medium-sized zucchinis in slices
3 potatoes cut in bite-size
3 medium-sized onions cut in small pieces
4 small tomatoes cut in small pieces
4 cloves of garlic unpeeled and 1 more in thin slices.
3 big leaves of basil finely chopped
a handful of parsley finely chopped
6 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 cup olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

Method

We put all ingredients plus 1/3 of the olive oil in a tray and stir them well so that all ingredients are mixed. We preheat the oven at 200 C and bake them covered for the first half-hour. Then uncover for the rest 30 minutes or until done. When the food is ready we let it cool down for a while and we add the rest of the olive oil at the end so that it keeps all its valuable elements that are lost when heated.

Energetics

Roasting is a very warming method which benefits the Yang. Most root vegetables tend to be warm in nature and strengthening to the chi. Whatever combination is chosen, this dish is essentially Yang and chi strengthening.

For extra delight, you can combine it with Greek feta cheese and olives. For the best nourishment, make sure that you are calm and relaxed before eating, chew your food well and take some time to digest while enjoying the summer breeze…