Greek
Authentic-ish Greek
Yiayia's Classics, Lightened
The awkward one. Greek food arrives with a health halo and most of it is deserved. What the halo hides is a whole category of dish called ladera, which means the oily ones, and which is called that because the oil is the method.
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What’s in it
| Recipes | Chapters | Average calorie saving | Dishes rejected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 8 | 49% | 3 |
Every dish, and what came off it
Each figure is per serving, computed from the ingredient list. The traditional column is the real dish, not a strawman: it’s costed from its own ingredient list so the saving is a measurement rather than a claim.
| Dish | Chapter | Traditional | This version | Saving | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moussaka | meat | 1008 kcal | 352 kcal | 65% | 33.5g |
| Horiatiki | salads | 377 kcal | 254 kcal | 33% | 10.1g |
| Spanakopita | pites | 447 kcal | 305 kcal | 32% | 16.8g |
| Tzatziki | meze | 166 kcal | 76 kcal | 54% | 9g |
| Souvlaki | meat | 620 kcal | 364 kcal | 41% | 51.8g |
| Kleftiko | meat | 921 kcal | 405 kcal | 56% | 44.5g |
| Fasolakia | vegetables | 521 kcal | 158 kcal | 70% | 6.2g |
| Gigantes Plaki | pulses | 565 kcal | 436 kcal | 23% | 25.2g |
| Keftedes | meat | 779 kcal | 247 kcal | 68% | 30.9g |
| Dolmades | meze | 396 kcal | 233 kcal | 41% | 6.2g |
| Avgolemono | pulses | 627 kcal | 387 kcal | 38% | 41.1g |
| Baklava | pudding | 373 kcal | 209 kcal | 44% | 4.6g |
| Galaktoboureko | pudding | 528 kcal | 259 kcal | 51% | 8.9g |
| Briam | vegetables | 548 kcal | 451 kcal | 18% | 20.1g |
| Htapodi sta Karvouna | fish | 432 kcal | 247 kcal | 43% | 37.5g |
| Gavros Marinatos | fish | 695 kcal | 301 kcal | 57% | 27.5g |
| Gemista | vegetables | 565 kcal | 268 kcal | 53% | 7.5g |
| Soutzoukakia | meat | 651 kcal | 330 kcal | 49% | 39.3g |
| Fasolada | pulses | 498 kcal | 363 kcal | 27% | 19.4g |
| Saganaki | meze | 441 kcal | 316 kcal | 28% | 24g |
| Melitzanosalata | meze | 277 kcal | 115 kcal | 58% | 7.3g |
| Taramosalata | meze | 609 kcal | 154 kcal | 75% | 20.8g |
| Tyropita | pites | 540 kcal | 265 kcal | 51% | 16.4g |
| Kotopoulo Lemonato | meat | 1054 kcal | 446 kcal | 58% | 44.9g |
| Stifado | meat | 572 kcal | 410 kcal | 28% | 42.2g |
| Youvetsi | meat | 1035 kcal | 471 kcal | 54% | 43.3g |
| Pastitsio | meat | 814 kcal | 512 kcal | 37% | 39.7g |
| Kolokithokeftedes | meze | 467 kcal | 152 kcal | 67% | 9.6g |
| Psari Plaki | fish | 510 kcal | 278 kcal | 45% | 37.9g |
| Barbounia | fish | 956 kcal | 240 kcal | 75% | 41.3g |
| Kalamarakia | fish | 1407 kcal | 205 kcal | 85% | 30.1g |
| Choriatiki Salata me Kritharaki | salads | 728 kcal | 413 kcal | 43% | 35.1g |
| Melitzanes Imam | vegetables | 662 kcal | 368 kcal | 44% | 15.2g |
| Arni Fricassee | meat | 788 kcal | 355 kcal | 55% | 43.1g |
| Loukoumades | pudding | 588 kcal | 186 kcal | 68% | 6.8g |
| Rizogalo | pudding | 312 kcal | 194 kcal | 38% | 11.4g |
| Karidopita | pudding | 544 kcal | 240 kcal | 56% | 8.2g |
| Portokalopita | pudding | 443 kcal | 199 kcal | 55% | 8.6g |
| Yiaourti me Meli | pudding | 472 kcal | 229 kcal | 51% | 21.9g |
| Skordalia | meze | 503 kcal | 194 kcal | 61% | 8.9g |
| Fava | meze | 536 kcal | 360 kcal | 33% | 20.5g |
| Kolokithopita | pites | 557 kcal | 243 kcal | 56% | 13.2g |
| Bourekakia | pites | 504 kcal | 188 kcal | 63% | 15.6g |
| Prasopita | pites | 614 kcal | 343 kcal | 44% | 15.8g |
| Lahanodolmades | vegetables | 503 kcal | 338 kcal | 33% | 28g |
| Ntomatokeftedes | meze | 380 kcal | 210 kcal | 45% | 11.4g |
| Bamies | vegetables | 571 kcal | 211 kcal | 63% | 10.1g |
| Politiki Salata | salads | 231 kcal | 204 kcal | 12% | 24.7g |
| Chirino me Selino | meat | 630 kcal | 368 kcal | 42% | 39.5g |
| Kokkinisto | meat | 630 kcal | 365 kcal | 42% | 46.7g |
| Bakaliaros Skordalia | fish | 1506 kcal | 398 kcal | 74% | 49g |
| Garides Saganaki | fish | 397 kcal | 254 kcal | 36% | 35.2g |
| Mydia Achnista | fish | 996 kcal | 606 kcal | 39% | 77.5g |
| Soupa Trahana | pulses | 407 kcal | 370 kcal | 9% | 20.9g |
| Spanakorizo | vegetables | 759 kcal | 391 kcal | 48% | 23.2g |
| Melitzanes Papoutsakia | vegetables | 1162 kcal | 349 kcal | 70% | 30.9g |
| Tiganites | pudding | 793 kcal | 294 kcal | 63% | 15.4g |
The ones I wouldn’t touch
Dishes drafted for this book that didn’t survive. If every dish survived lightening, that chapter would be a marketing device and you should trust none of the rest.
- Revithada. Revithada is a masterpiece of Greek island cooking, specifically from Sifnos. It is literally just dried chickpeas, onions, water, lemon juice, and a massive glug of olive oil, baked slowly overnight in a clay pot. Can I mathematically raise the proportion of protein compared to the energy it brings? Yes. If I strip out 150g of olive oil, the fat drops through the floor, leaving the protein from the chickpeas untouched. But if you do that, you ruin the food completely. The entire magic of revithada relies on the olive oil emulsifying with the chickpea starch over 6 hours of slow cooking. That slow process creates a thick, creamy, savoury broth. Take the oil away, and you are left with sad, wet beans sitting in thin onion water. I could dump diced chicken breast into the pot to force the protein up, but then it isn't revithada anymore, it's a chicken stew. I could stir in Greek yoghurt at the end, which would curdle instantly in the acidic lemon broth and look like a terrible mistake. I could use less oil and try to thicken the broth with cornflour, but the flavour would be hollow and depressing. Some traditional dishes are already perfect exactly as they are. This is peasant food at its absolute peak, designed to feed hard-working people using only what grew on a dry, rocky island. The chickpeas bring plenty of fibre and a decent amount of protein anyway. Eat the traditional version. Find a recipe that uses at least 200ml of good olive oil. Bake it until the top goes crusty and dark. Mop up that glorious oily sauce with a thick chunk of white bread. Accept what it costs you in energy, and just eat a lighter dinner the next day.
- Angurodomata. Angurodomata is just cucumber, tomatoes, red wine vinegar and olive oil. There's essentially zero protein in this dish. I could mathematically raise the proportion of protein by dropping the olive oil down to a miserable drop, but taking a salad from 1% protein to 3% protein is a waste of time. I could also dump a pile of cooked chicken breast on top, but then it isn't Angurodomata anymore, it's a chicken salad. Some things just are what they are, and you can't force them into a new shape. This is a classic side dish. You don't need to fix it. Eat it exactly as the Greeks do, dressed generously with good oil, and serve it next to a massive piece of grilled meat to hit your targets. Trying to hack a cucumber into a high-protein meal is a fool's game.
- Maroulosalata. Shredded cos, spring onion, dill, lemon and olive oil. That is the whole dish and it comes in at 161 kcal a serving, of which about 130 is the oil. Apply the dressing ratio from the swap kit, 2 parts oil to 1 of lemon rather than 4 to 1, and you are at roughly 90 kcal. That saving is real and it took one sentence, which is why it is in the swap kit rather than here. I drafted a version that added 600g of chicken breast. The protein went from 1g per 100 kcal to 15.6, which looks spectacular until you notice I had turned a side salad into a main course and then compared the two. That is not a lighter maroulosalata. It is a chicken salad standing where one used to be. Make it as it is, dress it properly, and put it next to something.
Where the numbers come from
- FoodData Central, SR Legacy Release (April 2018). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
- McCance & Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID) 2021. Public Health England / Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Open Government Licence v3.0.
Retrieved 2026-08-21. Nothing in these books is dietary or medical advice. Danny Vale is a cook.
Also from us
The Cyclades. Most of the fish chapter comes from those islands, and there is an Owner's Guide to them.