Lathera: The Heart of Greek Cooking

If you want to understand the Greek Mediterranean diet, you need to understand lathera.

The word comes from ladi — oil. Lathera are vegetable dishes cooked in generous amounts of olive oil, usually with tomatoes, onions, and herbs. They're the dishes Greek grandmothers make when they're not trying to impress anyone. They're weeknight food. They're Tuesday lunch.

And they're the real secret of the Mediterranean diet.

What Lathera Are

At their simplest, lathera are vegetables braised slowly in olive oil until soft and rich. Common examples:

• Fasolakia — Green beans in tomato sauce
• Bamies — Okra with tomatoes
• Briam — Mixed roasted vegetables
• Gemista — Stuffed tomatoes and peppers
• Imam Bayildi — Stuffed eggplant
• Spanakorizo — Spinach and rice
• Prasorizo — Leeks and rice

The technique is similar across dishes:

1. Sauté onions or garlic in olive oil
2. Add the main vegetable
3. Add tomatoes (fresh or canned)
4. Add herbs (usually dill, parsley, or mint)
5. Add water or broth
6. Cook slowly until vegetables are very soft
7. Finish with more olive oil

The slow cooking is key. These aren't quick stir-fries. The vegetables cook for 30 minutes to an hour, until they're almost falling apart.

Why They Matter

In traditional Greek homes, lathera were (and often still are) the main meal several times a week. Not a side dish. The main dish.

This is the piece most people miss when they think about the Mediterranean diet. They imagine grilled fish and Greek salads. But the reality for most Greek families was (and is) much more vegetable-forward.

A meal of fasolakia (green beans) with crusty bread and feta cheese is complete. It's satisfying. It's dinner.

The Olive Oil Question

"But that's so much olive oil!" Yes. That's the point.

A proper pot of lathera uses 1/2 to 1 cup of olive oil for a dish serving 4-6 people. The oil isn't just for cooking — it becomes the sauce. It coats every vegetable. It soaks into the bread you use to mop up the plate.

This is why Greeks are healthy despite eating so much fat: it's olive oil, not butter or seed oils.

How to Make Lathera

Let's walk through a basic fasolakia (green beans):

Ingredients

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can diced tomatoes (or 2 fresh, chopped)
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh parsley

Method

1. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large pot over medium heat
2. Add onion, cook until soft (5-7 minutes)
3. Add garlic, cook 1 minute
4. Add green beans, stir to coat
5. Add tomatoes and water
6. Season with salt and pepper
7. Cover, reduce heat to low
8. Cook 40-50 minutes until beans are very soft
9. Stir in remaining olive oil and parsley
10. Serve with bread and feta

That's it. Simple ingredients, slow cooking, generous olive oil.

Making Lathera Part of Your Week

Start with one lathera dish per week. Pick a vegetable you like. Find a simple recipe. Make enough for leftovers.

Then add another day. Then another.

Before you know it, you're eating like a Greek — vegetables at the center, olive oil as your fat, meat as an occasional accent.

That's the Greek way. That's lathera.