It’s packed with greens, herbs, and plenty of olive oil.

“Ikarians enjoy small handheld pies called pitarakia,” writes chef and TV host Diane Kochilas in her cookbook The Ikaria Way: 100 Delicious Plant-Based Recipes Inspired by My Homeland, the Greek Island of Longevity. “[Pitarakias] have a filling of up to 20 different greens and herbs, onions, leeks, and olive oil, all depending on what food’s in season.” Kochilas has taken this idea and reimagined it, using a rice dish that’s “so beloved both in Ikaria and throughout Greece” as her inspiration.

Kochilas refers to this dish as “longevity greens rice,” because the deceptively simple fare adheres to the tenets of the Mediterranean Diet, which purportedly helps you live long and healthily. The rice is “a comforting, soft dish silky with olive oil and sprightly with all the nutrition that so many greens and herbs impart.”

And given that this is Greek cuisine, Kochilas assures us that a generous glug of olive oil will accompany all of that green goodness: “This is a version of the category of dishes called ladera, which means ‘of oil’ — the oil, of course, being the golden green juice of the olive.”

Don’t have this exact list of greens on hand? Don’t sweat it — you can personalize the produce and use “ingredients [like] sweet sorrel, beet greens, and other sweet greens.”

Longevity Greens Rice Recipe

Makes 4 to 6 Servings

Ingredients

1 pound (½ kilo) Swiss or rainbow chard

½ pound (½ kilo) spinach, trimmed

²⁄³ cup extra-virgin Greek olive oil

1 large leek, trimmed, washed, and finely chopped

1 large red onion, finely chopped

1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 cup long or medium-grain rice or parboiled brown rice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 cups vegetable stock, or more as needed

½ cup chopped fresh dill

½ cup chopped fresh mint

½ cup chopped fresh chervil

½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Strained juice of 1 lemon

Feta cheese or plain Greek yogurt, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Trim the chard and spinach, separating the stems from the leaves. Trim away any rough or tough part of the stems, usually on the bottom, finely chop the stems, and set aside. Chop the leaves, then swish them around in a basin or bowl and either spin dry in a salad spinner or let them drain very well in a colander.
Heat ½ cup of olive oil in a wide pot over medium heat. Sauté the leek, onion, fennel, carrot, and greens stems until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add the rice and stir to coat with the olive oil. Add greens in batches and stir to cook down, until all of the chard and spinach have been added.
Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 cups of vegetable stock. Cook over low heat, covered, until rice is very tender, about 45 minutes. Add more stock, if necessary, to keep the mixture moist and retain enough liquid for the rice to cook. The greens will let out their own liquid, too, so you have to use your judgment.
About 5 minutes before removing from heat, stir in all the fresh herbs and half the lemon juice. Stir in remaining olive oil and adjust seasoning with additional lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve, if desired, with a small wedge or a little crumbled Greek feta or a few spoonfuls of plain Greek yogurt on top.