Fabulous free event with author and chef Patricia Pastides at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, Conn. on Dec. 28 at 6:00 pm

Patricia Moore-Pastides, "Greek Revival from the Garden"

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An inviting garden-to-table approach to the Mediterranean diet for beginning gardeners and chefs!

Patricia Moore-Pastides, author of Greek Revival: Cooking for Life, heads to the garden in this new cookbook that makes a do-it-yourself healthful lifestyle possible, offering guidance on how to pursue healthy eating, starting from the ground up. Moore-Pastides, an accomplished cook and public-health professional, presents all new recipes focused on bringing the bounty of the garden to the table in easy and accessible ways. Targeting young adults but valuable for all novices, Greek Revival from the Garden focuses on the time-tested Mediterranean diet—recommended for great taste, good health, and long life—and on learning simple, delicious cooking methods that foster a happy and healthy relationship with good food.

The growing section provides all the information necessary for those interested in organic gardening to cultivate an exciting array of fruits and vegetables in containers, raised beds, or yard gardens. Topics include preparing the soil, composting to create organic fertilizer, watering, working with basic tools, and dealing with common pests and problems. Color photographs are provided to inspire new gardeners with more than just tomatoes and cucumbers.

Greek Revival from the Garden then invites the reader into the kitchen. This section assumes little prior cooking knowledge or experience and includes kitchen safety, common equipment and cooking methods, and observations from cooking class participants. The highlight of the cooking section are the recipes themselves: a beautifully photographed sampling of fifty mouth-watering dishes prepared with the harvest of homegrown vegetables as the stars, including garden gazpacho, curried butternut squash and apple soup, and nut crusted creamy almond fruit tart.

Throughout the book, Moore-Pastides inspires healthy habits by introducing simple ways to grow and prepare nutritious dishes, and promotes a long and fulfilling lifetime relationship with food from garden to table.

PATRICIA MOORE-PASTIDES is the First Lady of the University of South Carolina, where she teaches healthy Mediterranean cooking classes for USC students. In addition, Moore-Pastides, who earned a master's in public health from Yale University, teaches adults and children through Columbia's Cooking!, a community program offered by the university's Cancer Prevention and Control Program. As part of being an active participant in Healthy Carolina's farmers' market, she cultivates an organic vegetable garden at the President's House. Moore-Pastides also works to support sustainability initiatives on campus and lectures on wellness, specifically the health benefits of the traditional Mediterranean diet and lifestyle.

This event is free, click here to reserve your seats!

Greek Revival from the Garden: Growing and Cooking for Life (Hardcover)