TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES

After a holiday season spent indulging in rich cookies, candies, and cakes, I, like most newly minted dieters, used to pass on offers of dessert.  A wedge of cream pie or bowl of ice cream held far too many calories and too much fat for my bulging waistline.  Not until a fellow sweets lover introduced me to the light, succulent treats of the Mediterranean did I realize how wholesome and diet-friendly dessert can be.
 
A region long renowned for its healthful cuisine, the Mediterranean serves up a wide range of after-dinner delicacies.  The final course can be as involved as nut-filled phyllo dough or as uncomplicated as a sliver of seasonal fruit.  In most instances, though, dessert is a merely bite of something sweet to top off the evening meal.  Diners walk away from the table feeling satisfied but not overstuffed as I so often used to do.

The child of Greek restaurateurs, Dr. Nikoleta Kolovos recalls that the conclusions to her childhood suppers differed from what most think of as Greek desserts.  The St. Louis physician consumed not syrupy pastries or moist cheese pies but slices of watermelon and bowls of fresh, mixed fruit.

“Sweets, by and large, are reserved for special occasions or when friends visit,” she says.  

Many of these Greek confections, she adds, consist primarily of fruit.  Desserts such baked figs, grape must pudding, and watermelon spoon sweets often grace the table at parties and holiday events. 

“The sweets per se are a little healthier in that the sugar base is often honey as opposed to simple processed sugars.  Many, like baklava and kataif, use walnuts or pistachios for their fillings, also adding to their nutritional value,” Kolovos says.

Moreover, a few Greek cakes, such as the traditional Lenten cake, forgo eggs and butter.  Instead they call for olive or sesame paste.   

Not to be outdone by its Mediterranean neighbor to the east, Italy boasts of an array of simple, healthy delicacies.  Strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar, my all time favorite, represents the ideal choice for both the health-conscious diner and time-pressed home cook.       

Although occasionally spiced up with a splash of liqueur or garnished with a handful of mint leaves, this Italian delight requires merely a pint of ripe strawberries and one to two tablespoons of good balsamic vinegar.  Allowed to steep for at least an hour, the berries increase both in sweetness and complexity.  A pleasure for the palate, they are additionally a good source of Vitamin C.              

From North Africa comes a more complex offering, sweet couscous.  Dotted with iron-rich dates, toasted almonds, and Vitamin A-filled, dried apricots and decorated with a dusting of cinnamon, this grain-based repast is both nutritious and delicious.

Should I wish to round out the evening with a drink, I look to Turkey and its bold Türk kahvesi.  Introduced by traveling dervishes in the 16th century, the strong, black, foamy coffee remains a popular, low calorie way to finish a nightly meal.     

“Strong” may underplay the intensity of Türk kahvesi.  Brewing instructions range from one heaping teaspoon to two rounded tablespoons of finely ground coffee per two ounces of water.  Needless to say, Turkish coffee is neither for the faint-hearted nor the weak-stomached. 

When seeking a milder hot beverage, I reach for a steaming glass of Moroccan mint tea.   Easy to prepare, the tea consists of sprigs of fresh mint, green tea leaves, hot water and sugar.  The digestive properties of mint and antioxidants in green tea make this drink a refreshing, restorative closure to any feast. 

The pleasures and benefits of these delicate desserts have not been lost on professional chefs.  Across the nation Italian dishes such as sorbet, the non-fat, pureed then frozen fruit treat, and granita, the chipped ice combination of fruit juice or coffee, sugar, and water, adorn restaurant dessert plates.

At Paloma, Philadelphia’s much lauded French-Mexican restaurant, chef-owner Adan Saavedra and his wife Barbara J. Cohan-Saavedra dish out an assortment of exotic, all natural sorbets, including cactus pear, blackberry brandy, and hibiscus flower.  Cohan-Saavedra, the creator of Paloma’s desserts, describes the fuchsia-colored hibiscus sorbet as a “party on your plate,” fun to look at and to eat.
  
“I try to offer something beyond cakes, which are heavy on the butter, sugar, and chocolate, and to have an alternative in terms of lightness and exotic fruits and flavors,” she says.                        

Fruit-oriented fare appears prominently on many menus.  During the winter months Chez Panisse Cafe in Berkley, Calif. offers bowls of dates or figs and pears.  Manhattan’s dessert destination ChikaLicious provides such seasonal goodies as vanilla poached pears and Asian pear salad.      

Suburban bistros have likewise taken notice of this desire for airier endings.  At the Funky ‘lil Kitchen in the Philadelphia outpost of Pottstown, Penn. chef-owner Michael Falcone whips up a clever variation on the French mimosa.  His champagne gelée and orange compote in a slender champagne flute answers his customers’ call for “light, seasonal foods,” he says.

Thanks to these light desserts, I no longer feel the need to fight that craving for a sweet.  Contrary to the old cliché, it is true.  You can have your cake – or figs --- and eat it, too.
 
GREEK BAKED FIGS
8 fresh, ripe, brown or green figs, washed and with stems removed
1 1/2 tablespoons of a light, fruity red wine, such as Beaujolais
2 teaspoons of honey plus a scant extra for serving

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. 

Using a pairing knife, score the top of the figs in a cross-like pattern.  

Place the figs upright on a baking sheet and spoon the two teaspoons of honey and 1 ½ tablespoons of wine over the figs.  Put the figs inside the preheated oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until juicy and bubbling but not browned.     

Remove the figs from the oven.  Place two to four figs onto each dessert plate and drizzle the remaining honey over the fruit.  Serve immediately with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt on the side.  Serves 2 to 4.

TURKISH COFFEE
In Turkey coffee is brewed using a cevze, a small, wide-bottomed, pitcher-shaped vessel with a long handle.  Although specialty coffee and cookware shops do sell cevzes or ibriks, the Greek word for the Turkish pot, a very small saucepan will suffice.  

4 heaping teaspoons finely ground coffee
1 cup cold water

Combine the ground coffee and water in a small saucepan and stir until well mixed. 

Place the saucepan on low heat and allow the ingredients to simmer for roughly 3 minutes until the mixture starts to rise.  During this time do not stir the ingredients.

Once the liquid starts to rise and foam, remove the saucepan from the burner.  Do not allow the coffee to overflow. 

After a 10 to 20 second resting period return the saucepan to the burner and leave on low heat until the coffee begins to rise again.  Remove from heat.  Repeat these steps for a third time. 

After the third rising remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the coffee into 4 demitasse cups.  As the grounds will also be present in the cup, allow them to settle before consuming.  Serves 4.    

MOROCCAN SWEET COUSCOUS
1 cup instant couscous
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup roughly chopped, lightly toasted, blanched almonds
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
cinnamon for dusting

In a medium-sized saucepan boil the water. 

Once the water has boiled, add the couscous, raisins, and apricots.  Place a lid on the saucepan and remove from heat.  Let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the almonds and place them in a small frying pan on the stove.  Toast on medium heat until golden.  Remove from heat.

Tumble the couscous into a large bowl.  Rake your fingers through the couscous, loosening the grains and mixing in the raisins and apricots.

Once the couscous is well combined, pour in the melted butter and honey and blend the mixture with your fingers.     
Add the toasted almonds and blend again.  Dust the top with cinnamon then serve.  Serves 6.

© 2007, KATHY HUNT. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES INC.