From beans to greens, there are many foods that make up the traditional diets of people in the Blue Zones, a handful of areas in the world where people tend to live longer.
My family is from the Greek Blue Zone of Ikaria — I spend about half of every year on the island and run a cooking school out of my village home. To me, one unexpected food is at the top of the list of traditional ingredients: honey.
The raw, thick, delicious honey produced by local beekeepers on the island and across Greece is intertwined with my most precious memories of life on Ikaria. I love to smell its subtle, gentle perfume wafting on the breeze, especially when the weather is warm and the bees are out and about, buzzingly busy among the wildflowers, thyme, and pine trees.
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Honey has antibacterial qualities, contains an abundance of antioxidants, and helps the body regulate sugar levels. On Ikaria, it’s considered one of the island’s secret ingredients for longevity, and many Ikarians start their day with a spoonful.
It’s consumed as folk medicine for coughs and sore throats. A friend in his 90s has told me the combination of honey, sage or mountain tea, ginger, and garlic were the “penicillin” of his generation. Island elders have even joked with me that it’s nature’s Viagra.
It’s also a staple in the kitchen, with its exquisite, complex, and deliciously sweet flavor.
I’ll probably always prefer fresh, local Ikarian honey, raw and pure, above any other kind. When I’m in the States, I shop for Greek honey either in local Greek and Middle Eastern food stores or online. I even started selling Ikarian honey on my own site.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to incorporate honey into your diet:
Drizzle honey over yogurt or oatmeal
Is there a better breakfast than a bowl of protein-rich Greek yogurt topped with a little raw honey? Not in my book.
If you like oatmeal, a drizzle of honey together with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a handful of nuts creates a delicious start to the day that will keep you full for hours.
Diane Kochilas stands at her kitchen door.
Courtesy of Diane Kochilas
Sweeten tea and other beverages
Choosing honey means we can enjoy sweetness without consuming processed sugars and artificial sweeteners. Although honey contains simple sugars — and moderation is still key — it has vitamins and minerals and, and allows the body to better regulate blood sugar levels.
I stir it into herbal, green and black teas and use it a lot in smoothies with Greek yogurt. Sometimes I mix a spoonful of Greek honey into a little sparkling water and add some mint or citrus slices for a refreshing homemade soda.
Level up your snacks
The beauty of honey, in part, is that it doesn’t require a lot of work or preparation to enjoy.
I like to add honey to tahini and nut butters to pair with bananas or apples, for example, or to spread over whole-grain toast or rusks.
Use honey to make homemade dressings and vinaigrettes
I almost never buy salad dressing. It’s so easy and much healthier to make your own.
Honey balances the acidity of balsamic vinegar and softens the astringency of lemon juice. You can crumble in some feta cheese, a perfect complement to honey, to make a creamier dressing.
I am mostly a traditionalist, so I tend to prefer basic honey vinaigrettes with olive oil, a touch of Dijon mustard, and either lemon or orange juice. I like to put these honey vinaigrettes over green salads, such as a kale salad with lime-honey vinaigrette, or toss them into white bean salads, as opposed to using them with tomato-based salads.
“I almost never buy salad dressing. It’s so easy and much healthier to make your own,” Diane Kochilas says.
Courtesy of Diane Kochilas
Pair honey with cheeses
One of the dishes that’s taken Greek restaurants by storm is baked or pan-fried phyllo-crusted feta cheese finished with honey. It’s become a modern classic that takes its cue from many longstanding regional traditions that combine tart or nutty Greek cheeses with natural sweetness.
In Crete, for example, one of the most beloved ways to serve the island’s local graviera cheese is to put a little honey on the side and to use the cheese, cut into sticks or wedges, as a dipping “utensil.”
Add honey to marinades and roasts
I use it in marinades for protein like chicken and as a glaze for a whole range of baked dishes, from apricots to shrimp.
One of my all-time favorite uses is in a version of Greek roasted potatoes that we make during my Ikaria classes. I mix honey into a marinade that includes orange and lemon juices, olive oil, garlic and lots of herbs, and pour that over the potatoes before baking them.
Mix honey into casseroles, stews and soups
I add honey to other savory dishes, too — such as sweet and sour lentils and a giant bean casserole baked with honey and dill — especially when cooking them with tomato-based sauces and herbs. I turn to it to thicken and balance rich meat stews with a little underlying sweetness.
It’s great mixed into soups — pairing beautifully, for example, with all the “orange” vegetable-based ones, such as carrot soup.
Diane Kochilas has a recipe for sweet and sour baked lentils with honey, vinegar, and leeks.
Courtesy of Diane Kochilas
Let it star in your desserts
You might’ve seen loukoumades (dough puffs) or baklava on the menu at Greek restaurants. These are both melomena, a popular category of sweets named after the Greek word for honey, meli.
At home, you can use honey as an easy, ready “sauce” for your desserts that doesn’t require any cooking, reducing, or preparation of any kind.
Drizzle it over a scoop of vanilla ice cream or orange sorbet, or spoon it generously over a cheesecake. That pairing dates back to the ancient Greeks but stands the test of time.
Diane Kochilas is the host and co-producer of “My Greek Table,” runs the Glorious Greek Cooking School on her native island Ikaria, and is the author of 18 books on Greek cuisine, including most recently, “The Ikaria Way: 100 Delicious Plant-Based Recipes Inspired by My Homeland, the Greek Island of Longevity.”
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