24 Greek dishes to make at home

Greek cuisine is known for its healthy, Mediterranean and flavoursome ingredients, such as olive oil, fresh herbs, and lean proteins. If you're looking to incorporate more Greek-inspired dishes into your diet, here are some healthy recipes to try:

Classic Greek menu items

• Greek salad (Horiatiki salad). This classic Greek-village salad is traditionally made with tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums, and topped with feta.

• Hummus and pita. Chickpeas are a great source of vegetarian protein, and you’ll sometimes see flavourful additions of garlic and sun-dried tomato, but you need to watch portions with this one.

• Moussaka. A lasagna-like dish of fried eggplant and meat slathered in béchamel.

• Souvlaki. Souvlaki literally refers to anything on a skewer, but is most often meat served for eating with pita, with vegetables as an occasional addition. Grilling is the best choice for meats, and these simple, lean cuts of chicken, lamb, or pork are pure protein on a stick. They come served with pita and tzatziki — a dipping sauce made from Greek yoghurt, cucumber and garlic.

• Prawn saganaki. Sautéed prawn are baked in the oven with tomatoes and feta in this relatively healthy restaurant favourite.

• Baklava. In this decadent dessert, filo pastry is brushed with butter and filled with walnuts, dripping with honey and cinnamon.

• Mezze (meze). A selection of small dishes served as appetisers in both Middle Eastern and Mediterranean regions. Dips like hummus and tzatziki, warmed pita bread, dolmades (stuffed vine leaves), cheese like feta and haloumi and Kalamata olives are often found on Greek meze plates.

• Spanakopita. A spinach and feta pie wrapped in layers of filo pastry, usually offered as meze.