♪ ♪ >> MARIA LOI: I am Maria Loi, executive chef of Loi Estiatorio in Manhattan.

When I was growing up in Thermo, a small village in Greece, food was a way of life: good for your body, good for your soul.

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest in the world, and I have seen how it can truly change people's lives like it changed mine.

And since then, my life has been all about the Mediterranean diet.

Today, we're going to share some of the delicious secrets that you can make part of your own lives at home.

So come with me right now on The Life of Loi.

♪ ♪ >> Funding for this program is provided by the Behrakis Family.

Additional funding is provided by the Greek National Tourism Organisation.

>> LOI: I am Maria Loi.

I am so glad you're here with me today.

I will take you on a trip to Greece, then come back to my favorite kitchen in New York.

I will show you two of my favorite recipes: patates lemonates, lemon potatoes, and gemista tis tembelas, lazy chef's stuffed vegetables.

I am so excited to show you more of Naxos today.

We're going into the heart of the Aegean Sea.

People have been living on this island since around 3000 B.C.

Can you imagine?

It's the largest and greenest of the Cycladic Islands.

It's full of gardens, groves, and vineyards.

Naxos is famous for its amazing cheeses, and of course, super-tasty potatoes.

In Naxos, we'll cook, we'll drink, we'll feast.

But first, we'll get a little dirty.

I wanted to cook with potatoes, so I had to pay my due by planting for the next crop.

I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

Oh, so nice!

You're from Naxos, I'm faster than you!

>> No way!

>> LOI: The potatoes from Naxos are the best.

♪ ♪ Now that I had earned my potatoes, it was time to cook with Iouliani.

♪ ♪ >> Hello!

(Loi laughing) >> LOI: This is Iouliani.

She is amazing.

And she does also cooking classes here.

Come over, she will teach you how to cook real Greek food.

(indistinct chatter) ♪ ♪ >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ (Loi speaking Greek) >> LOI: They're the goats from Naxos.

Really, this meat is amazing.

You know, usually, I don't eat meat, but today I will.

>> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): I always say that if you have an oregano tree, you know, you can feel better when you have cold.

Pepper.

>> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Everything in moderation except love, olive oil, and good eats.

(laughing) ♪ ♪ So she's putting the meat, you know, like, on the bottom of the clay pot here.

And then she will add the potatoes, because the meat needs to cook with a lot of heat.

♪ ♪ So... (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Everything comes from this land here.

Everything.

♪ ♪ >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Okay.

I like pepper.

(speaking Greek) >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ Okay.

>> Yeah.

>> LOI: Almost half a bottle of olive oil.

You should do the same thing.

>> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Rosemary.

(speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: 12 months.

I don't think that I could wait for 12 months.

If I was here... (laughs) two months and I will eat it.

♪ ♪ (sizzling) Awesome.

♪ ♪ (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): (both laughing) ♪ ♪ Naxos is known for its potatoes, but here in America, we also have delicious potatoes.

In fact, at Loi Estiatorio, we're using organic potatoes from Idaho.

I love Idaho.

And I love the potatoes.

So today, we're going to cook patates lemonates, lemon potatoes, and it's so easy.

This recipe is a very classic in the Greek cuisine.

Every region where you go has its own version and they are all delicious.

We bake this here in the oven every day.

They're a staple at Loi Estiatorio.

If you soak your potatoes in cold water for one or two hours, you will remove some of the potato starch.

Strain them or pat them dry with a kitchen towel.

They will come extra-crispy in the oven.

You just cut them this way or any way you like it.

You can cut any shape you like, but this one is the Greek style.

And I would like you to follow the Greek style.

Okay, ready.

I add a bit of tomato paste, the same kind my mother used.

One teaspoon is enough.

♪ My grandma's ♪ It's a bit broken now, but I love it.

So the tomato paste adds more flavor and helps the potatoes to caramelize in the oven.

And then, we'll add the olive oil.

Potatoes have gotten a bad reputation for being unhealthy, but it depends on how you prepare them.

If you don't fry them, or load them with butter-- you know, I use olive oil.

Maybe I will add some more olive oil.

So the best way to eat potatoes are steamed, roasted, or baked.

They are full of vitamins.

And we add some salt.

Lemon juice.

In Greece, if you don't have lemon and olive oil, you cannot cook.

(laughs) And oregano.

I always use dry oregano.

Some fresh pepper.

Stir again.

And they are ready to go.

My grandma was telling me, "Don't just dump the potatoes.

Just place them like little soldiers."

That's it.

And then we'll take it to the oven.

Preheated oven, 350 for 20 minutes.

And here they are.

See how they're crispy at the side?

You can eat these potatoes with feta cheese, with yogurt.

And the next day, they are good.

If you reheat them, they're very good.

Also, you can cut them in small pieces, and you make a salad with it.

Me without olive oil?

(chuckling): No way.

That's it.

And some oregano.

And now I can eat it.

I have to taste it for you.

It's perfectly crispy, but yet creamy.

Chef Iouliani also taught me her secrets for cooking gemista, a great dish to feed a crowd.

Actually, it was good, because we had a hungry group to feed.

♪ ♪ >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> (speaking Greek): (Loi speaking Greek) >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI: Okay.

>> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: One small spoon, one big spoon.

>> (speaking Greek): (Loi speaking Greek) >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Okay.

>> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Okay.

>> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): (speaking Greek) >> LOI: It's the most difficult, she said.

♪ ♪ (Loi laughing) >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> Bravo!

(speaking Greek): >> LOI: Mm-hmm.

(speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek) >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Okay.

(speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> Ah... >> LOI: Don't try it.

You need practice.

Okay?

Because you can cut your fingers.

♪ ♪ (speaking Greek): (kissing fingers) >> (speaking Greek): From the garden.

The vitamins are in the stems.

♪ ♪ >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Okay.

(speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (laughing) (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI: Okay.

>> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Mm-hmm.

(speaking Greek): >> Ah!

(speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ (Loi speaking Greek) >> (speaking Greek) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Okay.

>> Bravo.

(speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: One tablespoon for each tomato, but for the zucchinis, eggplant, and peppers, she will use almost two.

♪ ♪ (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> Ah... (Loi laughs) >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): (Loi laughs) >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: We're almost done.

♪ ♪ >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI: It's one of my favorite food.

>> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: I got the potatoes.

I got the tomatoes.

I put the rice, olive oil, everything.

♪ ♪ (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ >> LOI: Needs a lot of olive oil.

>> (speaking Greek): >> LOI (speaking Greek): >> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Okay.

>> (speaking Greek): >> LOI: Opa!

(speaking Greek) >> (speaking Greek) >> LOI (speaking Greek): ♪ ♪ (music playing, clapping to beat) (music and clapping continue) (music ends, cheers and applause) ♪ ♪ >> LOI: Thank you all.

Love you.

Love you, Iouliani.

>> I love you, Maria mou.

♪ ♪ >> LOI: Iouliani's dish was so tasty and beautiful.

And if you are looking for all the flavor, but half the work, I have a lazy chef's gemista recipe for you.

You just cut the vegetables in here.

You should cut the vegetables in different sizes, depending, you know, of how hard they are and what kind of vegetables you use.

Because you can use any vegetables you can have in your house, okay?

So they, they will all cook at the same time.

For example, you know eggplant?

You know, takes longer to cook than the zucchini.

And they don't have to be cut uniform, okay?

These eggplants are very good.

So we have the tomatoes.

(laughing): You know me, I always cut not on the cutting board.

But don't try like this at home.

You have to have practice to do this, okay.

Make sure that your vegetables are organic.

We don't need pesticides in our lives.

So, the zucchini, we'll cut them bigger size, okay?

And they're so fresh, these zucchini.

Mm... You know, we make gemista in Greece during the summer, actually, because we take advantage from all those vegetables that they grow there.

That's why we have the horiatiki salad, the famous horiatiki salad.

You just add tomato, onion, cucumber, olives.

They call it "horiatiki" because it's a peasant salad.

So peppers.

Did you know that bell peppers are packed with vitamin C?

They're so good for you.

See?

I keep a bit, you know, of the pepper, so I can make a fantastic stock.

It's so easy, this dish.

You make it in 15 minutes.

Garlic.

Actually, I'm going to put the garlic in here just to have the flavor, but not too much garlicky.

So... and my onions, they were in the freezer before.

Because, if you put them in the freezer for half-hour, you don't cry.

(chuckling) Don't try this at home.

Use a board.

But I can cut it this way, too.

You will learn.

Practice.

Only practice.

Look at these colors!

I'll put some salt.

And then...

Some tomato paste.

(laughing): You know me and tomato paste, we go together.

(chuckling) The tomato paste here adds a lot of flavor.

Olive oil makes life taste better.

And if you like, some fresh pepper, as well.

And now, I have the potatoes here in salted water so they don't oxidize.

And that's why I always add them at the end.

And my favorite: herbs.

And I always cut them with a scissor.

They are full of vitamin and flavor.

And I put my menta.

We call it dyósmos in Greek.

Menta.

Wow.

(gasps) (exhales) The stems of the parsley, they are very good to put them in here, but not the stems of the mint.

They are very hard.

Different plants.

That's it we have with everything.

We don't need water, because the vegetables, they have their own water.

Just a bit pepper.

And then more olive oil and go into the oven.

Preheated oven, 350 degrees.

And for the vegetables that I use, we need only half-hour to cook.

♪ ♪ And here we are.

You can eat them like this, or you can add some feta cheese, or yogurt.

And I will add the rice.

The rice, I have parboiled it, so this way, I can make your life easier.

And you can cook it faster.

I will add some water.

You just need to give some color.

Now you need to cook it in 400 degrees, because we need a bit of crispiness on the top.

Just ten minutes.

No more.

And here we are.

You see, these potato are perfectly caramelized.

And now let me serve you.

♪ ♪ I will add some more olive oil.

And I will enjoy.

You know, usually, I eat orzo, but in this dish, the rice with the vegetables are married together.

The perfect marriage.

I have seen how the Mediterranean diet has changed people's lives.

It has changed mine and I hope you will feel inspired to try these recipes.

It's more than just about good food.

It's also a way of living.

This is what we believe at The Life of Loi.

♪ ♪ >> Funding for this program is provided by the Behrakis Family.

Additional funding is provided by the Greek National Tourism Organisation.

♪ ♪