As 2023 begins, many people will be making New Year’s resolutions to lose weight and eating a healthier diet is usually the first step. Highly restrictive diets might seem like the way to go, but feelings of deprivation often undermine such diets in the long run. The Greek diet regularly tops the list of the best diets for being easy to follow and heart healthy. As many researchers have found, the mostly plant-based diet can help ward off chronic diseases and improve longevity. Add the following cookbooks to your reading list to help inspire healthy eating habits in the New Year.

The Everything Healthy Mediterranean Cookbook by Peter Minaki provides all the tools for making healthy, classic Mediterranean meals right at home. Including 300 recipes—most of which can be made in 30 minutes or less, along with make-ahead and slow cooker meals— this cookbook is perfect for Greek diet beginners.

This fun and easy to follow cookbook features step-by-step guidance to effortlessly incorporate this healthy lifestyle into any busy schedule. With recipes for those planning quick, delicious weeknight meals or more elaborate meals for the holidays, The Everything Healthy Mediterranean Cookbook is a great resource for healthy eating.

Greek-Canadian chef Peter Minaki is the creator of the popular Kalofagas food blog: https://www.kalofagas.ca and a frequent contributor to Greece’s Free Press gastronomy website. He teaches cooking classes, provides catering, and creates restaurant popups at venues around Toronto. His recipes have been featured in various publications, including The National Herald. Minaki is also the author of The Big Book of Mediterranean Recipes, The Everything Mediterranean Cookbook, 2nd Edition, and The Everything Green Mediterranean Cookbook with flavorful plant-based recipes to enjoy throughout the day.

My Greek Table: Authentic Flavors and Modern Home Cooking from My Kitchen to Yours by celebrity chef and award-winning cookbook author Diane Kochilas features classic and contemporary Greek cuisine along with lavish photographs in this companion book to her popular cooking-travel series on PBS. Inspired by her travels and family gatherings, the recipes and stories Kochilas shares celebrate the food and culture of Greece with meals highlighting natural ingredients and the various region’s traditional styles alongside her own innovative updates to classic dishes. Kochilas is also the author of The Food and Wine of Greece, Ikaria, The Greek Vegetarian, and The Country Cooking of Greece, among others.

The Greek Diet: Look and Feel Like a Greek God or Goddess and Lose Up to Ten Pounds in Two Weeks by Chef Maria Loi and Sarah Toland highlights the science behind the Greek diet going back to ancient times and offers an easy to follow plan for healthy eating as well as a healthy lifestyle in general inspired by the Greeks. Structured around the 12 food pillars of the traditional Greek diet, The Greek Diet includes 100 health Greek recipes made with delicious, unprocessed ingredients.

Chef Loi is well-known as an international ambassador of Greek gastronomy, restaurateur, and public personality as well as the author of multiple cookbooks, including the official cookbook for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Loi has cooked at the White House for President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, and 250 guests. Her restaurant, Loi Estiatorio, located in Midtown Manhattan, is beloved by fans of Greek cuisine. Co-author of the book Toland is a longtime health and nutrition journalist and former professional track-and-field athlete. She is currently the food and nutrition director of Prevention magazine. Toland also served as the senior health editor of Men’s Journal and Alternative Medicine, the editor in chief of Inside Triathlon, and has written on health and fitness for the New York Times and Sports Illustrated, among other national publications.

The above-mentioned books are all available online and in bookstores.