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Original poster

To think a Sunday Dinner can follow the Mediterranean diet?

65 replies

itrezcbmko · 05/06/2026 14:38

Obviously not made with beef and Yorkshire puddings.

I have started following the Mediterranean diet, which a couple of friends also do, and we were chatting about it. Somehow I also mentioned that I’d had a roast dinner on Sunday, which was deemed now following the diet. I know I can break it whenever I like, but surely this does follow the ‘rules’.

Skinless chicken breast, new potatoes (boiled), carrots and broccoli roast with olive oil, sweetcorn, peas, and cabbage, with gravy.

Maybe the gravy doesn’t fit but surely this largely does follow the Mediterranean diet? Is it just because it’s such a British meal that it’s not deemed good enough?

OP posts:
PostcardFromDoggerland · 05/06/2026 16:11

Is this a dinner from a really terrible café in Gibraltar? An ultra-cheap cruise ship that's gone aground near Piraeus and waiting for an airdrop?

DeftGoldHedgehog · 05/06/2026 16:09

British cold pressed rape seed oil is better for roast potatoes as it has a higher frying point.

I do things like chicken, courgette, peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, small potatoes and herbs and/or a bit of ras el hanout and some olive oil as a traybake in the airfryer. You don't need much oil and I would think of that as (a bit) Mediterranean but not a roast dinner per se.

Squirrelblanket · 05/06/2026 16:04

Peas, sweetcorn and boiled potatoes do not belong on a roast dinner.

Credittocress · 05/06/2026 16:04

Sounds dreadful. Not a Sunday dinner and not Mediterranean.

TheChosenTwo · 05/06/2026 16:02

ColdAsAWitches · 05/06/2026 15:57

That's the worst of both worlds. It's not Mediterranean and it's not a roast!

Was just about to say exactly the same!

I mean crack on op if you enjoyed it but it sounds a bit dull,
like a care home Sunday dinner, and neither here nor there as a meal in terms of Mediterranean or roast.

My relative has been advised to follow a Mediterranean diet to help heal her fatty liver, she eats a lot of pulses, grains, seeds/nuts, eggs and oily fish and just non processed foods in general.

DeftGoldHedgehog · 05/06/2026 16:02

A Sunday roast isn't bad for you, it's a very well-balanced meal. All depends on amounts, portions and how you cook things.

ColdAsAWitches · 05/06/2026 15:57

That's the worst of both worlds. It's not Mediterranean and it's not a roast!

LadyLooo · 05/06/2026 15:08

Why would anyone want actual 'rules' around food anyway, aside from everything in moderation?

Life is far too short.

ginasevern · 05/06/2026 15:06

I'd rather eat hummus, olives and grilled aubergine any day than your Sunday meal OP. If I wanted a roast, then I'd make a proper traditional one or not bother at all. Besides, the benefits of a Mediterranean diet aren't just about food. It's about lifestyle, climate, genetics and other factors. So whilst the ingredients are undoubtedly good for you, it isn't the whole story.

Monty36 · 05/06/2026 14:58

I would not consider that to be a roast really. Nor entirely a med diet.
But in all honesty if you are following a med diet you can not do it for a day or two sometimes. I don’t think the chicken meal is unhealthy at all.
The med diet has a lot of fish to it, beans too.

Treetopssofee · 05/06/2026 14:56

It's not even remotely Mediterranean, complex carbs/grains are a HUGE part of the indigenous diets in blue zones.

And the term "Mediterranean diet" as used in western culture is hugely problematic (i.e. racist as well as just factually wrong) as it always erases the enormous influence that north African and west Asia has had on Mediterranean blue zone diets, and picks out a curated white washed list of approved less brown influenced foods

In short it's a nonsense diet.

Blue zone eating is balanced, seasonal, and with short farm to table distances. If it grows near you it's good for you. Have a bloody potato.

tiramisugelato · 05/06/2026 14:52

YABU for describing that monstrosity as a roast dinner.

GreenSedan · 05/06/2026 14:49

Roast potatoes are what makes a roast dinner. Boiled potatoes and chicken breast ain't a roast!

HughManity · 05/06/2026 14:46

Call the gravy jus and the bake a gratinado or al forno and it will be fine.

I used to work with someone who said he followed a Mediterranean diet. All he seemed to eat for lunch was hula hoops and ham sandwiches on white bread. I think you might be slightly at a more advanced level.

Valid8me · 05/06/2026 14:44

Apart from the olive oil, none of that sounds even remotely mediterranean to me!

I don;t know what the actual 'rules' are though.