This month, we’re exploring healthy aging and bringing you recipes inspired by the Blue Zones. First identified by Dan Buettner, the Blue Zones are areas of world with the highest concentration of centenarians.
These zones are Nicoya, Costa Rica; Sardina, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Loma Linda, California; and Okinawa, Japan. Studies into the demographics of these areas show that the lifestyles and diets of older adults in these areas have many commonalities which could be the key to their longevity.
The following recipes have taken inspiration from the diets of these areas which have an emphasis on vegetables, legumes, nuts, fish and lean meats, low-fat dairy products, and unsaturated oils like olive oil.
Rather than try to recreate specific dishes from these regions, we’ve put our own spin on dishes, starting with some of the healthful ingredients that the people of these areas eat most.
The Blue Zones investigations also revealed that strong social connections were a key feature of living among older adults in these areas. So, what better way to enjoy these recipes than with family and friends you want to keep around.
Lean into longevity with these five recipes inspired by the world’s healthy Blue Zones.
Beans, squash, and corn are known as the “three sisters” and are a key part of the diet of centenarians in the region of Nicoya, Costa Rica. These breakfast bowls draw on those reliable sisters with a nod to the Costa Rican dish gallo pinto, a mixture of rice and beans, spiked with cilantro, often eaten alongside scrambled eggs. We’ve topped these bowls with a fried egg instead, but the choice is yours.
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The Okinawan diet is comprised of 67 percent Okinawan sweet potatoes. These purple-fleshed sweet potatoes are rich in anthocyanins, powerful blue and purple pigments with antioxidant properties. The rich purple colour has inspired this fusion dish. It follows a classic gnocchi technique, but the purple colour and touch of miso give it an interesting twist paired with leafy spinach and shitakes.
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The Sardinian diet contains a lot of vegetables and is known for good helpings of barley and Pecorino, a sheep’s milk cheese. While not recreating a Sardinian dish, we’ve been inspired, for this hearty bean and barley stew, by those Sardinian ingredients. Warming and comforting, it’s filled with barley and convenient, protein-packed Borlotti beans and infused with flavour from carrots, onions, fennel, and herby thyme. It’s also packed with Italian lacinato kale for a healthy dose of greens.
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In Loma Linda, California, diets consist of fruits and vegetables as well as legumes, whole grains, and nuts. This crisp and juicy salad is inspired by those ingredients in the form of leafy greens, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, fennel, and sweet grapes. The toasted buckwheat adds a delicious crunch.
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This recipe is inspired by Greece’s Blue Zone on the island of Ikaria. Ikarians make use of the herbs that grow around them in their teas, eat local honey, and consume goats’ milk and cheeses rather than from cows’ milk. This luscious panna cotta recipe is made with goats’ milk and yogurt, sweetened with honey, and scented with lemon and rosemary before being topped with walnuts and figs and more honey.
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