How to Do a Mediterranean Diet the French Way

Bonjour! Yesterday (5/30/25) I googled “mediterranean diet french riviera” and this post from a year ago came up first! Très cool 😎 A year to the day I posted, how funny. That motivated me to freshen it up and repost it. June arrives in a few days and summer will officially be here soon. I’m (still) dreaming of the Cote d’Azur, Nice in particular. And once again I’m going for a French Riviera Summer vibe, it’s all about the sunny Mediterranean.

This is the perfect time to get in shape, or rather, être bien dans sa peau, to feel good in one’s skin. For the beach, the pool, lighter clothes and just being outdoors. In summertime, the healthy glow of the Mediterranean diet is the way to go. I’ve created a meal plan for June that uses the best of seasonal produce, including lots of vitamin A and omega 3 for health and glow. This is a low calorie diet, so combined with healthy nutrition, and lots of fiber, you’ll be feeling good ready for the sun in no time. And of course the recipes have a French Riviera twist 😉 Let’s dive in and enjoy how to do a Mediterranean Diet – the French Way!

Why a Mediterranean Diet?

The Mediterranean diet is all about plant-based whole foods and healthy fats. The sunny Côte d’Azur in June is bursting with seasonal produce. Bring on the greens! Green beans, kale, spinach, peas and jars full of pesto. Carrots, strawberries and blueberries to give us a glow. A Mediterranean diet naturally includes lots of fiber, from the legumes, whole grains and fruits. Healthy fats like olive oil and omega-3 found in salmon, avocados and chia seed are included here too. Don’t forget a good rosé, this is the south of France after all, perfect with the sunlit cuisine of the Cote d’Azur. And speaking of the blue coast, I will be referring often to Le Sud by Rebekah Peppler with which I am still obsessed. Filled with beautiful, magical recipes, stories and photographs from the south of France, I can’t get enough. Each recipe I’ve tried has been très fabuleux, I can’t wait to get to the ones I missed last year. Highly recommended!

A Mediterranean Diet the French Way

monday

• breakfast: Greek yogurt with 1 tbsp soaked chia seeds and a handful of blueberries or strawberries or a mix.
• lunch: French Carrot Salad, a Rebekah recipe! Serve with Tofu Feta, or it would also be good with toasted chickpeas, quinoa or soft boiled eggs. Btw, Rebekah has an absolutely beautiful Carrottes Rosé recipe in Le Sud which uses rose wine 💕.
• dinner: Soup au Pesto. Feel free to replace the tomato and zucchini in the soup with more seasonal vegetables like carrots and kale or spinach. Maybe stir in some unflavored vegan protein powder too. If you were feeling ambitious over the weekend and made Fougasse, like this lovely Sourdough version from The Perfect Loaf, that would be perfect with this. Or, if you have sourdough starter, save the discard to make these Sourdough Seed Crackers from Little Spoon Farm alongside instead of bread!

tuesday

• breakfast: un café – feel free to add your favorite collagen powder for an extra boost.
• lunch: Niçoise Salad , again from Rebekah Peppler (I told you I’m obsessed!). The cherry tomatoes aren’t really in season yet, so skip those if you like.
• dinner: Roast Chicken Parisian. To make this weeknight friendly, swap out the whole chicken for skin on, bone in thigh and breast pieces, and instead of potatoes try radishes, all on one sheet pan. Serve with a side of arugula topped with a Dijon vinaigrette.

wednesday

• breakfast: Greek yogurt with 1 tbsp soaked chia seeds and a handful of berries.
• lunch: French Carrot Salad with a hardboiled egg and fougasse or seed bread.
• dinner: Socca from David Lebovitz. Serve with a simple dark leafy green salad with herbs. Add avocado and sliced red pepper to the salad for extra omega 3 and vitamin A. Socca is best with a chilled glass of rosé, santé!

thursday

• breakfast: un café
• lunch: An Amazing Chickpea Green Goddess Salad
• dinner: Sunny Paris Salmon. For a Mediterranean touch, substitute the Sunny Paris seasoning with pesto. Perfect with frites and a nice glass of rosé.

friday

• breakfast: un café and avocado toast
• lunch: Egg Salad Stuffed Peppers Provencal – recipe below!
• dinner: Pissaladière from NYT Cooking and a green salad. I made the recipe from Le Sud last Friday using my sourdough starter and it was sooo good.

saturday

• breakfast: Café au lait chez Charlotte
• lunch: How about this Fennel Salad With Anchovy and Olives from NYT Cooking? Or maybe Rebekah’s Tapenade served with crudité and crusty bread? 🫒☀️
• dinner: Spinach linguini, fettuccini or tagliatelle with Pistachio Pesto and a nice green salad. Yesss… or should I say ouiii.
• Don’t forget dessert! Finish off the week with some Nice Cream – substitute seasonal strawberries for the pears.

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Egg Salad Stuffed Peppers Provencal

This recipe was inspired by a suggestion from my cousin Amber for a healthy, high protein recipe to use for le Blog. She uses raw red peppers, I roasted the peppers slightly to make them more like the Provencal dish Petits Farcis (stuffed vegetables), but you do you!. These would also be good in mini halved peppers – mix in some goat cheese – delicious as an hors d'oeuvre!

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: French, Provencal

Keyword: healthy, protein lunch, Provencal egg salad

Servings: 2

Calories: 125kcal

Ingredients

• 1 large red bell pepper
• olive oil
• 2 hard boiled eggs free range & organic
• 2 tbsp Greek yogurt, 2% fat
• squeeze of lemon juice
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 cornichons chopped
• 1 tbsp parsley or cilantro chopped
• pinch herbs de Provence
• pinch paprika or curry powder
• salt & pepper
• 1 tbsp hempseeds optional*
• 1 oz goat cheese optional

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the bell pepper into quarters, remove the seeds and core. Brush both sides of the peppers with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast about 7 minutes, until slightly softened and starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
• For the egg salad:

  While peppers are cooking, peel and dice the eggs.

  Combine eggs, yogurt, Dijon, lemon, parsley, cornichons, herbs de Provence and paprika or curry in a bowl. Season with salt & pepper. Spoon into red peppers and top with hemp seeds. Serve with a salad of baby lettuces tossed with vinaigrette.

Notes

*The addition of hempseeds gives it a little crunch, like a breadcrumb topping.  It also adds protein, omega 3 and fiber.

Calories: 127       Protein:  7g       Carbs:  5 g      Fat:  7g

Very high in vitamin C

*If adding hempseed, you are adding (per serving):

28 calories     1.7 g protein       0 carbs       2g fat (including omega 3)

Thank you for joining me on my daydream trip to the south of France. I will be doing this French Mediterranean diet this week and I can’t wait to feel the glow, and the healthy! Here is a link to the printable PDH, especially for you. I hope you have a beautiful June filled with sunshine and happiness. Santé and à bientôt!