Easy Mediterranean Meals for Weeknights

The Mediterranean weeknight pantry

With these in the cupboard, most of the meals below need only a stop for fresh fish, a bag of greens or a few tomatoes. None of it is hard to find in an American supermarket.

• Extra virgin olive oil – one everyday bottle for cooking, one greener bottle for drizzling (how to choose)
• Canned whole and cherry tomatoes, and tomato paste
• Canned chickpeas, white beans and brown or green lentils
• Canned tuna in olive oil, sardines and anchovy fillets
• Pasta, orzo and couscous
• Garlic, onions, red onions and lemons
• Olives, capers and roasted red peppers in jars
• Feta, and a hard cheese such as Parmesan or Manchego
• Dried oregano, smoked paprika (pimentón), ground cumin and chili flakes
• Sherry or red wine vinegar, flaky sea salt, and a loaf of good crusty bread

Fish and seafood

Sheet-pan cod with tomatoes and olives

Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Toss cherry tomatoes, sliced red onion, olives and capers with olive oil, salt and oregano on a sheet pan and roast for 10 minutes. Nestle four cod fillets in among the tomatoes, brush with oil and roast another 10–12 minutes, until the fish flakes. Finish with lemon and parsley; serve with bread for the juices.

Garlic shrimp, Spanish style (gambas al ajillo)

Warm a generous half cup of olive oil in a skillet with sliced garlic and a dried chili until the garlic sizzles and turns pale gold. Add peeled shrimp and a pinch of smoked paprika and cook, turning once, just until pink and opaque, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, add parsley and a squeeze of lemon. The oil is the point: mop it up with bread.

Grilled sardines on toast

Brush fresh, cleaned sardines with oil and coarse salt and grill them over high heat for 2–3 minutes per side, or use canned sardines warmed in their oil. Rub toasted country bread with garlic and grated tomato, lay the fish on top and finish with lemon and a green, peppery oil. It is the espeto idea on a plate – our whole fish guide has the full grill method.

Lemon-herb salmon

Mix olive oil, lemon zest and juice, chopped dill or parsley, garlic and salt. Spread it over salmon fillets on a sheet pan and roast at 400°F (200°C) for 12–15 minutes, depending on thickness. Roast green beans or asparagus on the same tray. On grill nights, try cedar plank salmon instead.

Tuna, white bean and red onion salad

Slice a red onion very thin and let it sit in a spoonful of vinegar with salt for 10 minutes. Toss with drained white beans, a can of good tuna in olive oil, parsley, lemon, black pepper and a pour of oil. No cooking at all, and it keeps for lunch the next day.

Beans and grains

Chickpeas with spinach (espinacas con garbanzos)

A Seville tapas-bar classic. Fry a slice of bread and two garlic cloves in olive oil, then pound or blend them with cumin, smoked paprika and a splash of sherry vinegar. Wilt a big bag of spinach in the same pan, add two cans of drained chickpeas and the bread paste with a little water, and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with more bread.

Lentil salad with feta

Simmer brown or green lentils in salted water until tender but not mushy, 20–25 minutes, and drain. While they are warm, dress them with olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and chopped red onion so they soak up the flavor. Add cucumber, parsley and crumbled feta. Canned lentils make it a 10-minute dinner.

Shakshuka

Soften onion and red pepper in olive oil in a skillet, add garlic, cumin and paprika, then a can of crushed tomatoes, and simmer for 10 minutes until thick. Make small wells, crack in four to six eggs, cover and cook gently until the whites are set and the yolks still soft – or longer, until the yolks are firm, if you are cooking for anyone pregnant, very young, older or with a weakened immune system. Finish with feta, herbs and bread for scooping.

Couscous with roasted vegetables

Roast cubed zucchini, eggplant, red pepper and red onion with olive oil, cumin and salt at 425°F (220°C) for about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, pour boiling stock over couscous, cover for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork. Fold in the vegetables, a can of chickpeas, lemon and herbs; a spoon of yogurt or harissa on top is good too.

Pasta and bread

Pasta with cherry tomatoes and anchovies

While the pasta cooks, melt four to six anchovy fillets in olive oil with sliced garlic and chili flakes. Add halved cherry tomatoes and cook over high heat until they burst. Toss with the pasta and a splash of its cooking water, then finish with parsley, lemon zest and toasted breadcrumbs instead of cheese.

Pan con tomate

Toast thick slices of rustic bread, rub them with a cut garlic clove, then grate ripe tomatoes on a box grater and spoon the pulp over. Finish with plenty of olive oil and flaky salt. Add jamón, Manchego, anchovies or a fried egg and it becomes dinner. The Spanish olive oil guide suggests which oil to pour.

Greek orzo salad

Cook orzo, rinse it under cold water and drain well. Toss with cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, Kalamata olives, feta and lots of dill or parsley, then dress with olive oil, lemon juice and dried oregano. It is better after an hour in the fridge, so it is a good make-ahead dinner.

Cold dishes for hot nights

Salmorejo

Córdoba's thick, cold tomato soup. Blend about 2 lb (900 g) of ripe tomatoes with a few slices of day-old bread, a small garlic clove, salt and a splash of sherry vinegar, then stream in olive oil until the soup turns creamy and orange. Chill well. Serve topped with chopped hard-boiled egg, a little jamón and a thread of oil.

Greek village salad (horiatiki)

Cut ripe tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper and red onion into big chunks, add Kalamata olives and capers, and lay a whole slab of feta on top. Season with dried oregano and salt and pour over plenty of olive oil – no lettuce and usually no vinegar. Bread for the juices is not optional.

Panzanella

Tear stale crusty bread into pieces and toast them in a hot oven with a little oil until crisp at the edges. Toss with chopped ripe tomatoes and their juices, cucumber, red onion, basil, olive oil and red wine vinegar, then let it sit for 15 minutes so the bread soaks up the dressing. Tuscany's answer to leftover bread.

Make it a week

Mix one fish night, one bean night, one pasta night and a cold dinner, and cook a double batch of lentils or chickpeas early in the week for salads later. Bean and grain salads and stews keep three to four days in the fridge. A simple week might look like this:

• Monday: chickpeas with spinach, with extra chickpeas set aside
• Tuesday: sheet-pan cod with tomatoes and olives
• Wednesday: lentil salad with feta, using the leftover lentils for lunch
• Thursday: pasta with cherry tomatoes and anchovies
• Friday: garlic shrimp and pan con tomate
• Saturday: a paella or a whole fish on the grill
• Sunday: Greek village salad and salmorejo

For a whole shelf of ideas beyond these fifteen, see the Mediterranean cookbooks we would start with, and for more from the coast, the Mediterranean kitchen.