Greens. I get quite obsessed. I always feel that if I get at least 3 cups of the stuff into my gob each day, then I have a leave pass with the rest of my diet. Within reason.

In Europe, however, it’s been tough going in the cruciferous, leafy and folic department. Mostly it’s been pork. And potatoes. Actually, hold the potatoes, I’ll have – OK, you only have lettuce? – some lettuce. And an olive. I outlined in a previous post how I get my greens when travelling – it’s a challenge, but there are ways. Anyway, as an ode to this challenge, and because I’m craving the damn stuff, and because it’s spring back home and a fine ‘ole time to eat spinach, silverbeet (also called Swiss chard) and kale, here are some great green recipes that don’t involve a ton of ingredients, and can be made as a quick Inject My Life With Goodness meal.

This first one is an ode to Marija, my photographer mate who travelled with me in Copenhagen and Iceland. We ate fish soup in the latter and we almost cried from culinary happiness. This recipe is for her to make back home!! Ya hear me Maj? It’s a modified version of a chowder recipe I read a while back.

Fish soup with kale

• 2 tbls olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1  carrot, chopped
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 anchovy fillets, soaked in water for 4 minutes, drained and chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 can chopped tomatoes, with liquid
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup fennel, chopped
• A bouquet garni made with a bay leaf, a strip of orange zest, a couple of sprigs each thyme and parsley, and a dried red chili if desired, tied together with a string

I know I’ve shared a lot about Ikaria. But I really must tell you about these uniquely Ikarian village parties. They are like nothing I’ve ever witnessed. And the essence of what they’re about, I think, very much contributes to why the people here live so long and well.

Here’s a video of the dance floor at the Stavlos paniyiri…It’s midnight. The party started around lunchtime.

Every village in Ikaria has a paniyiri. From May to September there is one every few days on the island. Sometimes four in one day/night. They exist to bring people together. The houses on the island are spread out, due to the island’s problems with pirates and other attacks over the centuries (decentralised villages were harder to conquer), so paniyiri were for getting everyone close. They were also, I’m told, a way of distributing wealth within a village. The rich paid for the goats and wine.

I’ve been sharing a few posts on why the people in Ikaria, Greece, live so long. Why it’s a “Blue Zone”. You can catch up here and here on the gist (and there’s more to come). The really big question that dangled during my stay here, however, is where’s the sugar issue sit in all of this?

In his bestseller The Blue Zones, Dan Buettner really doesn’t tick off the issue, but he was pretty keen to hear about my thoughts on sugar and longevity while we were in Ikaria and we debated it – robustly – over the week. I outline things in these two videos that Dan’s National Geographic team shot with me:

In short, the people here do eat sugar.

Today many put 1-2 teaspoons of sugar or local honey in their coffee or frappes. And they can drink several of these a day.

They also eat honey. They advise a teaspoon of their thyme honey in the morning on an empty stomach. You then eat something a good hour after that. They also eat yoghurt with honey, as well as “sweet fruits” – whole fruit jams made from sour cherries.

But several things:

• Traditionally, sugar has been a treat, consciously eaten and honey was a delicacy, consumed in small amounts.