Psarokolyva or Ospriada
The Traditional Cretan Superfood
I always loved the simplicity of some Cretan recipes. Not only because it is time saving, easy to plan and prepare daily dishes, but also because real pleasure and health is always hidden behind simple things. Simplicity can highlight the taste of the ingredients, help you add variety and healthy nutrients in your diet and, increase their absorption. It can also make your life easy as you will not have to spend hours cooking in the kitchen. This mixed pulses recipe is a must for your weekly staple dishes especially if you are following a vegan diet or if you simply want to have a healthy, balanced, plant-based diet.
Psarokolyva or Cretan Ospriada or Lads or Photopapouda or Mayeria is a very ancient recipe, from the island of Crete in Greece. While growing up we did not make this food in our house. My parents were not funs of pulses. However, I could find this food when I was visiting my relatives in the village. It was considered a food for poor people and people from the city did not appreciate it much. However, nowadays that we understand and appreciate more the health benefits of pulses it is considered a superfood.
As Ospriada contains a mixture of pulses it is ideal for a whole food plant based diet and is a really rich source of iron, protein, vitamins, fibers and so many other healthy nutrients. Either you are a busy mom or a person who cares about his diet, but who does not want to spend much time in the kitchen this recipe is an ideal solution for you. You can prepare it in big quantities either to meal prep your weekly food or stock some healthy food in the fridge or the freezer.
I also find it a great way to use leftover pulses and empty my cupboards. The most cool thing about this recipe is flexibility. You can change the final taste depending on the ingredients that you use while serving it and never get bored of it. In one hand, using simple everyday ingredients like lemon, olive oil, cucumber, tomato, parsley, onion you can prepare a quick warm or cold dish. On the other hand, if you want to add more variety and particular taste to it you can play with pomegranate, purslane, dill and rocket and make it totally different. Whatever you choose the final result will be amazing!
Ospriada can also be eaten anytime of the year, because you can use any dried pulses you can imagine and you can enjoy it either warm as a main dish, or cold as a salad or side dish. Below, I put the pulses that I use most of the time to make this recipe, but you can omit or add any other pulses that you find locally where you live. If you can find fresh ones, not dried, it is even better, but remember to add them at the end after boiling well the dried ones.
Preparation: 10min
Cooking time: 70min
Difficulty: Easy
Recipe
Ingredients for 4 people
100g chickpeas or cowpeas
100g yellow lentils or dried peas
100g black-eyed beans
100 g pinto beans or fava beans or navy beans
150g whole wheat
For serving
As a cold salad
Pomegranate seeds
Freshly ground black pepper
Parsley, rocket or purslane leaves
Lemon juice or vinegar
Olive oil
Cucumber
Tomato
As a warm dish
Lemon juice or vinegar
Olive oil
Fresh dill or parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Soak all the dried pulses overnight in cold water, using a different bowl for the different grains.
- Boil for 40min the ones that take more time, like the beans, the wheat and the chickpeas.
- Add the lentils and the peas and boil for 30 more min.
- Adjust the water to your preference. Add more if you would like to eat it as a warm soup or less if you would prefer it as a cold salad.
- You can add salt either at the end or directly to your plate.
Tips
- Enjoy it warm adding lemon juice, olive oil, freshly grinded black pepper and freshly chopped dill or parsley.
- Enjoy it cold:
Variation 1:
Add lemon juice, olive oil, pomegranate seeds, freshly grinded black pepper and fresh rocket or purslane leaves.
Variation 2:
Add vinegar, chopped tomato and cucumber, freshly grinded black pepper and fresh parsley, rocket or purslane leaves.
- You can make this recipe in bigger quantities and store it in the fridge or the freezer. The more it stays (up to 3 days in the fridge), the tastier it becomes.
Nutritional Value
Serving 1 cup | Calories: 488| Total carbohydrates: 92.2g|Sugars: 4.7g| Fiber: 22.5g| Protein: 25.7g |Total fat: 6g|Saturated fat: 0.9g| Calcium: 83mg|Iron: 6mg|Potassium: 693mg |Cholesterol: 0mg |Sodium: 279mg
2 thoughts on “Psarokolyva or Ospriada”
I always look forward to your recipes as these are always healthy. 😇 I will try this one soon.
Thank you Manisha! I am very happy that you enjoy our recipes and that you are open to a healthy and plant-based lifestyle! Let us know which ones you have tried or post photos of them either here or in FB/Insta… 🙂 Keep up the good work!