The restaurant business is loaded with opportunities for cooperating with Mother Nature and with the goals of a modern, green society. From training a staff to choosing a menu, in style and substance, globally conscious restaurant owners can find ways to help them sleep well at night.

1.Cleanliness

Keeping a restaurant going requires a dedication to cleanliness, for which many restaurant managers and owners reach for the first cleaning products they find. This often means commercial cleaning projects that contain questionable chemical compounds that you wouldn’t want in your home, let alone in a business that caters to an enlightened, planet-friendly clientele.

Of course, if you want to go green with your cleaning products, your local health board or the state’s own regulations might have something to say about that. Water alone will not take care of unhealthy bacteria or other dangerous pathogens. On the other hand, you will want to use cleaning products that really work. Call your local health board for recommendations in this area.

2. Training Workers

Certainly, health departments in various states consider their role to be one of helping businesses keep a clean and health establishment, not shutting health code violators. Out west, the California food handlers card attests to the state’s dedication to helping train workers in keeping restaurants clean and handling food properly. Yes, organic often implies a relaxed atmosphere when it comes to food presentation, but that doesn’t guarantee healthy practices, something your state regulators will certainly remind you if they need to. You can also train your workers how to compost or give away food that is not eaten by the end of the day.

3. A Green Menu

The greatest impact a restaurant can have is in what the owner puts on the menu. Choosing your local suppliers has a direct impact on the green economy and offers a method in which one business can have a lateral impact on their industry. Supporting certified organic farmers who avoid abusing the planet with pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, poor land management and pledge humane treatment of their animals allows these small farmers to survive and even thrive, allowing them to prosper and grow.

One organic farmer doing well is a signal to the farming community that green practices not only make planetary sense but economic sense. It allows the organic community to participate in the marketplace.

You could even start an organic meal preparation program that uses seasonal produce and sets a clear schedule for pickups and deliveries. Many kitchens test a delivery model that integrates meal prep business ecommerce into their website ordering flow to minimize waste and predict demand. That approach helps you track portions, forecast ingredients, and keep the menu aligned with what nearby farms can supply.

Using organic suppliers also supports the local economy simply because crops sprayed with pesticides and treated with preservatives can travel father as these practices increase a product’s shelf life. In contrast, organic farmers tend to prefer local markets, so they can sell their fresh, vulnerable products in markets that appreciate local means fresh and this means healthier foods untreated by preservatives.

In this manner, a restaurant that uses green suppliers makes enormous use of its buying power. They support local producers who are kind to the planet earth and makes use of fresh, local foods that go quickly to their customers. A healthy planet and healthy customers mean that green menus influence the world well beyond their own cash registered.

4. Education

Beyond the complex and rewarding practices of running a restaurant that works within a “green” framework, restaurant owners can seize the opportunity they have to educate their customers and their would-be customers along the way.

Often, local newspapers run articles on new businesses that open in their neighborhoods and this is just one opportunity to educate the public on the benefits of a green restaurant. Start by reminding the public about the health benefits of eating simple, fresh, green, local, untreated foods and go from there. Remind them that you are supporting the local economy in ways that a national fast-food franchise is not. Remind them that your advertising dollars start local and stay local – while national chains rely on corporate advertising in which the local economy is unlikely to benefit.

5. A Living Wage

Lastly, a “green” restaurant implies a connection to the planet, but it also implies a connection to the local community and to human beings. That implies you will pay your workers a living wage. There’s no point in running a proud, healthy, green restaurant and relying on cutthroat wages for your staff.

Check with your local banks to find out if there is an established living wage in your community. Then figure out ways in which you can guarantee your staff goes home with enough money to support themselves and their families. Again, there is no point in bragging about your green business if your dishwashers cannot afford childcare or your waitresses cannot afford new shoes. If you look to countries like Switzerland the cost of food at grocery stores is not that high, but to eat out you will pay a fortune. Why? Because servers earn a good hourly wage for their services. Think about it.

With these tips, your restaurant can become truly eco-friendly. From the food you serve to the impact you have on your community, being a green, organic restaurant is more than just a trend.

The post 5 ways restaurants can go green appeared first on Green Prophet.

Those jars and honey bears full of golden liquid are mostly not honey at all. It’s just syrup that tastes something like the real thing. Commercial processed honey has been heated to high temperatures, which destroys the wealth of nutrients it had when fresh out of the hive. It’s often diluted with water and high-fructose corn syrup to make it more manageable – and to stretch the product out. Its valuable pollen is taken out by forcing it through tiny filters. The result: a liquid that’s pretty to look at but is pretty much dead.

Did you know you can set up your own beehive in your garden? Karin showed us how here. That’s a surefire way to get real honey, almost on tap.

The pollen backstory

Pollen is the part of the honey which can be traced back to its country of origin. If honey suppliers have an interest in hiding the product’s source, they make sure no pollen remains in it. China, whose merchants seem to have no value for human health and safety,  flooded USA markets with cheap, processed honey, putting American beekeepers in jeopardy. It’s honey whose valuable friendly bacteria, vitamins and enzymes have been cooked out in processing. Even worse for the consumer, it’s sometimes contaminated with animal antibiotics.

The fake honey of the USA

The Federal Trade Commission in the US slapped a high importation tax on Chinese honey in 2001 but the manufacturers found a way to keep selling fake honey to Americans. They remove the pollen – which is the element that proves country of origin in lab tests. The process also cooks out all nutritional value.Then they ship the denatured honey to countries not subject to the American tax, changing the documentation and packaging to make it pass for not Chinese.

This fake honey is still bought by big supermarket chains to re-package and put on their shelves with the label “Pure Honey” on it.

That’s the US. Where else is fake honey sold? I’d say that most commercial honeys anywhere, especially ones packaged with supermarket logos on the labels, are processed junk. Even here in the land of milk and honey (in Israel), I walk right past industrial brands. They’re good enough to flavor honey cake or honey cookies, but for real honey with nutritious and medicinal value, I head out to the health food store or visit the apiary in the next town.

An advantage to buying from apiaries (see my visit to a local apiary and how I got swarmed here) is that they carry varieties unavailable in supermarkets. Near where I live, there’s an apiary that offers some 15 varieties, including honey from onion flowers. That one, and eucalyptus honey, are popular with Russian immigrants, who appreciate its highly antiviral, antibacterial properties.

Try this honey purity test.

How do you know if your honey is pure?

• Check the label.  If the label states the name and contact details of an apiary close to home, you’ve likely to have the real thing in your hands. Also, labels that reveal the presence of additives reveal fake honey.
• Real honey crystallizes over time, while honey diluted with high-fructose corn syrup stays pourable forever.
• Drop a little honey into a small bowl of tap water. If it dissolves right away, it’s fake. Real honey takes a good amount of stirring to melt.
• Taste it. Can you taste more than one flavor, like different flowers or herbs? That’s real honey. Fake honey only tastes sweet, with a little honey-like flavor.
• You’ll be amazed to see how raw honey when added to water creates a beehive structure when stirred.

100% pure honey makes a honeycomb pattern

What’s so great about honey as medicine?

Due to its antioxidant properties, raw honey can heal wounds, even minor burns (in a pinch). While a bad burn or wound should be treated by a qualified practitioner, it’s useful to know that a dab of honey will dry up a pimple overnight or can be applied for soothing and healing to the sort of burns you can get on your arms when taking a hot tray out of the oven. Honey has been used in home-made cough remedies for centuries. Science is now proving what folk medicine has always known: raw honey boosts immunities.

Our cookbook author friend Nawal Nasralla gave us another tip for telling real honey: “Let a drop fall on sandy ground,” she advises. “If it does not spread but stays like a ball, it is genuine.”

Oddly, a Druze grandfather I spoke to uses the same basic method to test olive oil. Taking a drop between thumb and forefinger, he makes sure it doesn’t ooze and drop away but stays firm and sticky between his fingers. It seems that the real thing not only has character, but body too.

Sweet and Healing, Here’s More Honey:

• 8 Types of Delicious Raw Honey From Yemen
• Tej, Ethiopian Honey Beer Recipe
• Green Prophet Visits Apiary – And Gets Swarmed
• Australian Eucalyptus Trees Keep Honey Bees Buzzing Year-Round

The post Is your honey real or fake? Take the test to see if it’s 100% pure honey appeared first on Green Prophet.

Middle East urban farming has caught on in Egypt, where urban agriculture as a movement is now taking place. This also holds true for another highly dense population location, Gaza, where rooftop hydroponic farms are helping to sustain urban Gazans.

In the USA, the viability of urban farming to provide healthy organic vegetables to communities where such produce is not easy accessible received a big boost recently when a 40 something former financial services person, Robin Emmons, was nominated by CNN. She received its Hero of the Year award  for her role in growing and providing fresh vegetable produce to urban communities that otherwise would not have adequate availability to a healthy alternative to their present life styles.

After working for 20 years in the financial markets, Emmons decided to embark on her urban farming idea after see how people in institutions, her brother included, were fed very unhealthy diets high in carbohydrates and sugars.

Home gardening had always been a hobby for Robin, who grew up in Boston but later relocated to North Carolina where she has lived more than 20 years. She decided to change her career goals to one of  growing healthy, organic fruit and vegetables and make them available for people who did not have easy access to such produce and often lived on diets of fast and processed foods.

She began doing this by donating vegetables from her own organic garden to the institution where her brother was living.

Founded in 2008, Emmons  called her newly created farming entity “Sow Much Good”. She began concentrating on residents living in Macklenburg County,  North Carolina, where as many as 73,000 people were living in what Emmons referred to as “urban food deserts” without affordable or easily accessible fresh produce.

Since then, her foundation has grown to providing produce to a much larger area, including the city of Charlotte N.C., where an urban farm features seasonal produce such as corn, peppers, squash, cucumbers, collards, eggplant and more.

Beehives  on the site help with pollination of what Emmons refers to as “beautiful chemical free produce”; and this provides people with high grade raw honey as well..

Sow Much Good produce, in addition to being delivered to various locations is also available at area stores and roadside produce stands. The NGO also provides education and guidance to people wanting to plant their own urban gardens and grow their own fruit and vegetables.

The virtues of eating healthier diets is also being taught by members of Emmon’s foundation and is being written about in their blog. All of these efforts make it clear why CNN picked up Robin Emmons and Sow Much Good for designation as one of 10 CNN Heros of the year 2013.

Based on the success of this urban farming venture, it’s easy to see that urban food deserts in Middle Eastern locations like Cairo Egypt, Palestinian Gaza; and other densely populated areas can be made more sustainable through roof top farms and other types of urban agriculture.

More articles on urban agriculture in the Middle East:

Hydroponic Farms Sustain Urban Gazans

Egypt’s Urban Agriculture Movement is Growing

What Urban Rooftop Gardening Could Do for the Middle East

Photos of Robin Emmons and her farming project by Sow Much Good

The post Sow Much Good farmer a CNN hero for spreading her seeds at the urban farm appeared first on Green Prophet.

Animal products often hide in processed foods. As example, dairy derivatives whey and casein, included in commercial baked goods, may be acceptable to vegetarians but avoided by vegans. Where you draw the line is a personal choice, but those choices need to be informed.

How many of these veggie-imposters surprise you?

1. Beer and Wine,  particularly those made in Britain, use isinglass (a byproduct of fish bladders) in the clarification process. Most is removed in production, but traces can remain.
2. Fruit Juice frequently contains Vitamin D derived from lanolin (sheep oil), Omega-3 sourced from fish oil, and gelatin (a collagen obtained from beef skin and pig hide). Apple juice is often clarified using isinglass (refer back to Beer and Wine).
3. Enhanced Breads, as with juices, may include Omega-3 amino acids originating from fish oil. Commercial baked goods may also contain non-vegan ingredients such as milk, eggs, butter, whey, and honey.
4. Parmesan Cheese and other regional cheeses such as Pecorino Romano, are required by law to use rennet in the curdling process to retain their “authenticity”. Rennet, sometimes called “enzymes” on product labels, is derived from animal stomachs.
5. Boxed Cake Mix uses beef fat, sometimes listed as lard, as a common ingredient. It’s also present in many cakes, cupcakes, and cookies.
6. Bagels use a dough conditioner “enzyme L. Cysteine”, commonly sourced from duck and chicken feathers. It’s used in other processed bread products, particularly those served in fast food joints. (Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut  and McDonald’s  all admit to the practice respectively in their donuts, garlic bread, and apple pie.)
7. White Sugar bags typically list only “sugar” as an ingredient, but most processed sugar (including brown and confectioner’s) is whitened by a process that uses bone char.
8. Red Candy and most any food that’s colored red contains pigments extracted from the female Dactylopius coccus costa.  This red bug dye is typically listed as cochineal, carminic acid or carmine in the ingredients.  It’s found in candy, wine, vinegar, juice and colored pasta. Many candies are also coated with shellac, a resin excreted by the lac bug, which is usually listed as “confectioner’s glaze:”.
9. Soups, particularly those prepared in restaurant kitchens, are usually made with stock made from chicken, beef, or fish.  Canned vegetable soups can also contain animal stock and gelatin thickeners.
10. Salad Dressings in restaurants often start with bacon fat for added flavor, undermining the classic vegetarian go-to in restaurants. Caesar dressing contains anchovies, and creamy dressings often include gelatin.
11. BBQ-Flavored Chips,  well, if you’re tucking into a bag of greasy chips, food purity may not be paramount.  But know that most brands of BBQ-flavored chips get their punch from chicken fat.
12. Worcestershire Sauce is made with anchovies.
13. Packaged Peanuts, high in quality protein, are an easy snack, but beware of gelatin coatings.
14. Breath Mints, Gummy Bears, Marshmallows, Jello and Fruit Jellies frequently contain gelatin made from animal skin and bones.

This duplicity has nutritional, philosophical and  religious implications: a triple motivation for the buyer to beware.   It comes down to buying organic, single ingredient foods.  Or making your own food using these ingredients. Or reading the labels with a dictionary handy.

More reasons for ditching processed foods.

Image of a veggie dog from Shutterstock.

The post 14 Animal-Free Foods That Are Not Vegetarian appeared first on Green Prophet.

Okra’s in season now, and you can read about more peak June produce here. Fussy housewives linger over the piles of those slender green fingers, using a time-tested method to determine freshness . “The way to tell if okra is fresh,” one such lady told me at the shuk, “is by snapping the pointed end off. If it won’t snap off but only bends, it’s old and will be stringy.”

Another thing I learned in my okra researches at the shuk is that the best okra are the small pods with a bright, not dark color. Look for young, small pods no more than 10 cm. – 4 inches in length. Any longer, and the pod will be tough. A final tip from my on-the-spot teacher: wipe your okra dry before chopping, for easier handling.

You can learn a lot of things from small elderly ladies wearing head-kerchiefs.

Store okra  in the refrigerator, but cook within two days to get the best flavor and nutrition out of it. in fact, it’s so packed with vitamins, minerals, and good-for-you fiber that it deserves to go under the superfood category.

Okra Stewed In Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

1 kg- 2 lbs okra
1 large onion
1 cup fresh button mushrooms, measured after slicing
1 large can chopped tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
2 bell peppers, – one green and one red, for a pretty presentation
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
½ to 1 cup olive oil

Cut the stem ends of the pods away. Rinse, then dry.

Slice the onions and mushrooms. Mince the garlic. Chop the peppers into dice.

Fry the okra in the oil until the pods change color to brown. Drain on crumpled newspaper.

Saute the onions in a few tablespoons of oil, until they wilt. Add the mushrooms and continue frying until the onions are golden.

Add the bell peppers and fry another 4 minutes, stirring. Add the okra; stir. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and seasonings. Stir again and cook, covered, over low heat for 10 minutes.

Serve hot, over rice.
Enjoy!

More early-summer seasonal foods on Green Prophet:

• Potato Salad With Middle Eastern Flavors
• Grilled Vegetables
• Baba Ganoush
• Persian Fish Stew

Image of okra via Shutterstock.

The post Yummy Okra Stewed In Tomato Sauce Recipe appeared first on Green Prophet.

Quinoa is a healthy superfood filling up kitchen cupboards of ethical and vegetarian eaters, but quinoa comes at a high price for those in Peru and Bolivia,

If you’re a vegan or vegetarian or someone who is just trying to eat a little more consciously, you know that shopping can be something of a nightmare.

Taking into consideration food miles, sustainability, water footprints, animal-friendly production as well as making sure the food is organic and healthy is a minefield. So when something as tasty and low fat (I remember ‘superfood’ was being bandied about) as quinoa comes along it’s something of a blessing.

Quinoa is super high in protein

The fact it is high in protein is also perfect for those cutting out meat. However, new research has shown that affluent westerner’s love for quinoa is pushing up prices and denying Peruvians and Bolivians the crop which was once was a staple of the poor.

Since 2006, the price of quinoa has tripled and in Lima, Peru, the once unheard of grain now costs more than chicken. Overseas demand for the grain continues to grow which is all putting pressure on land in Peru and Bolivia that once produced a diverse range of crops to simply harvest quinoa.

Writing in the Guardian, investigative journalist Joanna Blythman states: “The quinoa trade is yet another troubling example of a damaging north-south exchange, with well-intentioned health and ethics-led consumers here unwittingly driving poverty there. It’s beginning to look like a cautionary tale of how a focus on exporting premium foods can damage the producer country’s food security. ”

Another example that Blythman highlights is that Peruvian asparagus which is grown in the arid Ica region has depleted water resources on which the locals depend.

She also adds that soya production is now one of the two main causes of deforestation in South America along with cattle ranching. It is worth pointing out however that according to a UN report in 2006, 97% of soya production was used for animal feed and not to fill vegetarian’s fridges. Even so, the food insecurity caused by the rising popularity of Quinoa is troubling and highlights the need for a more localised approach to food production and consumption. Especially when we are importing from countries with high poverty rates.

For more on sustainable food see:

Eat Like A Sustainable Iranian

Globally, Obesity is Now More Deadlier than Hunger

7 Evergreen Books On Sustainable Food For Your New Year

Mushroom Farmers Start To Sprout Up In Iraq

Image of Tabbouleh Quinoa with Tomatoes via Shutterstock.com

The post Quinoa and its dirty secret to local societies appeared first on Green Prophet.

From vegetarian recipes to cutting out plastic, Arwa puts together a Green Iftar Guide to make your Ramadan a little more eco-friendly

Ramadan is a time of reflection, spiritual re-focus and self-improvement. It’s a time to look back on the person you are, the way you live your life and to think about bad habits you want to leave behind and new habits you want to embrace. As such, trying out a green could be the first step you take towards a more ethical and environmentally-friendly life. Realising the waste that occurs during Iftar (breaking of fast) and doing something to tackle it will hopefully inspire you to take more green action in your everyday life. Whether that is growing your own food, using more sustainable forms of travel or limiting your waste – this green step during Ramadan will inshalla be the first of many.

What I want you to ask yourself is whether these were as green as you would have liked? Did you throw away food? Did you use Fairtrade goods where you could? Are you cutting down your meat intake and trying new scrumptious veggie recipes? Have you been avoiding plastic cups and plates even though they ease your post-Iftar washing up load? Want to do better? Well, here’s our Green Iftar Guide to help make those next 23 Iftars a little greener.

1. Cut Food Waste

At a time when we as Muslims are supposed to remember the many blessings that god has bestowed upon us, it amazes me how much food we are still throwing away. In the United Arab Emirates alone, it is believed that 500 tonnes of food are wasted every year during Ramadan. And yet, there are simple steps that everyone can take to stop this mountain of food being thrown away. Don’t ever shop when you are hungry, buy less, cook less (around a third less then you think you need), store your food properly and don’t make fresh food when you have perfectly yummy leftovers that just need a little freshening up.

2. Bring Your Own Plate

Styrofoam-filled bins are a familiar sight at most mosques during Ramadan as public Iftars tend to involve piles and piles of plastics cups, plates and cutlery. As plastic is hugely toxic to the land where it is eventually dumped, however, we need to change our reliance on it. The best way to avoid plastic is to ask people to bring their own plates and cutlery. Not only does this cut out the plastic but it also means you can have better control over your portions and can avoid overeating. If you live in the US, you can also rent out this Zero-Waste Iftar kit from DC Green Muslims.

3. Embrace FairTrade

Trade justice is an important principle in Islam and Muslims have a responsibility to ensure that they do not consume products that contribute towards injustice. However, very few make sure that the food they buy has been traded fairly – you can change that this Ramadan by trying out FairTrade products like dates, almonds, juices and fruits. In the Qur’an it reads: “Give full measure and full weight in justice, and wrong not people in respect of their goods” (11:85). So why not support Fairtrade during your Iftar and raise awareness of the importance of ethical consumption and fair trade in the Muslim community.

4. Go Vegetarian

Despite popular belief, vegetarian dishes don’t have to be dull. In fact, not eating meat means that you have to get a little creative and include lots of bean, nuts and vegetables into the mix. If you want to keep to the Middle Eastern theme, there are some great traditional veggie dishes such as Mujadera, Tabbouleh and that’s not including a plethera of lovely hot soups, sticky sweets and yummy pastries. Check out our guide to the best vegetarian Ramadan recipes from the Middle East.

5. Eco-Mosque Checklist

To help build on your green Iftar actions, you could look at greening your local masjid and raising the environmental-awareness of your local community. The best way to start is with an inclusive green message during a khutbah or through posters at key areas of the mosque. Hosting green events or even green Iftars to get people talking about the issues in a more open and friendly environment is also a great idea. The next steps could include looking at water and energy usage in the mosque and cutting that down as well as encouraging people to travel to prayers using more sustainable modes. MADE, a UK-organisation which is leading a campaign for an ethical and FairTrade Ramadan is also hosting ethical Iftars in London, Birmingham and (possibly) in Manchester too. See here for the full details.

Please let us know how your green Iftar goes and Ramadan Mubarak!

For more on having a green Ramadan see:
Vegetarian Ramadan Recipes From the Middle East
Ramadan Food Waste and Green Tips for Cutting It Down
Break Your Ramadan Fast with FairTrade
The Eco-Mosque Checklist – 7 Steps To A Greener Mosque
Embracing A Greener Ramadan

Image of compost fruit via Shutterstock.com. : Image of Madrassah in Bukhara, Uzbekistan via Shutterstock.com :: Top image of Harira Traditional Maghreb Soup via Shutterstock.com

The post 5 ways to uplift and green your Ramadan Iftar (fast) appeared first on Green Prophet.

The level of food waste occurring during the holy Muslim month of fasting goes against the very spirit of Ramadan

A couple of days ago, I attended a small communal iftar at a local mosque where I broke my 18-hour fast with some rice, salad and dates. Although there was plenty of food, the organisers made a concerted effort to ensure that none of the food went to waste and most of us went home with some leftovers. Sadly, this was a rare occurrence and doesn’t reflect the wider experience in the Muslim world– particularly in the Gulf nations where studies show that on average 30% of food is wasted per household.

Ramadan is a month of modesty and a time to reflect on the many blessings received from god including food and clean water. However, many Muslims make the mistake of preparing a feast of lavish dishes to break their fast which inevitable leads to waste as you never eat as much as you think you will. In Bahrain, environmental experts have reported that 30% of all food purchased in the country during Ramadan will be thrown away.

In Abu Dhabi, approximately 500 tonnes of food gets thrown away during the month of Ramadan and its been found that people purchase 30% to 40% more household products than they actually need. Yet the Qur’an states: “Eat and drink but waste not by excess, for God loves not the wasters”. So, here are five easy tips to help you cut your food waste during Ramadan and the rest of the year (whether you are a Muslim or not):

1. Never Shop When Your Hungry

   Unless you some sort of saint with steely conviction, shopping when you’re hungry equals disaster as you will wander from your shopping list and end up buying lots of treats for yourself. If you absolutely have to shop when hungry, avoid bargains and stick to my ‘cut out a third’ rule by putting back a third of your shopping before your reach the checkout.

2. Store Your Food Correctly

   Whist this may sound simple, you’ll be surprised how much longer you can make your food last by following basic instruction like putting things in a cool, dry place. Making sure that your fridge is set to the right temperature also a good idea as it can mean the difference between food that lasts you the week and food that gets thrown out as it has started to turn bad.

3. Make A Third Less

   This is a general rule I follow which I’ve found to be quite effective when you’re food shopping or cooking. When you’re hungry you always over-estimate how much you want and end up making too much. So, cut out a third of what you planned to make (do you really need that extra dish at meal time?) and remember that you don’t have to stuff yourself full to be well nourished.

4. Don’t Buy Into Bargains

   Okay, so it’s ‘buy two get the third free’ but that doesn’t mean that you need three or that the bargain is really a bargain for you. If you live alone, than bulk buying is not a good idea and you should stick to getting what you need rather than over-buying and ending up with lots of expired food. Even if you have a large family, you’ll find that bulk buying is a no-go as people get bored of eating the same thing and prefer some variety. Whats more, bargains tend to be snacks and other non-staple foods so you also need to ask yourself whether 30 packets of crisps is a good idea.

5. Plan Ahead For Leftovers

   When making dishes that I think don’t taste great the next day, I try to be cautious and conscious about the need to limit any leftovers. Having less is better than having more in these cases. However, some dishes like lasagne taste better the next day in my humble opinion so I can afford to make a little extra and be more generous in my cooking portions. Apply the same rule to your favourite/worst leftover dishes and also get a little creative- just because something is a leftover doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend 30 minutes incorporating it into a different and better dish.

Have any great food saving tips? Feel free to share them by adding your comments below- happy Ramadan and food saving!

:: Image via rassiel/flickr.

For more on green Ramadan see:

The Green Sheikh On Ramadan: Waste 2 Food or Food 2 Waste?

Feasting On Fairtrade This Ramadan

30 Mosques in 30 States: USA’s Organic Muslims

Detox Your Life: Take The ‘Buy-Nothing’ Ramadan Challenge

Go Green This Ramadan (6 Steps)

The post 5 Tips To End Food Waste This Ramadan appeared first on Green Prophet.

“Vegetarian option” doesn’t have to be a dirty word when using one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s luscious Mediterranean vegetarian recipes.

For a nation most culinarily associated with fish and chips or shepherd’s pie, a vegetarian food option may not be the most appealing to the English.  British-born celebs such as Paul McCartney might be promoting vegetarian campaigns such as Meatless Monday, but it still probably takes something truly delicious (like eggplant stuffed with bulgur and fruit) to get the average Brit to forgo his or her bangers and mash.  Enter Yotam Ottolenghi, an Israeli-born non-vegetarian chef with a great appreciation for Mediterranean meatless wonders.  For years Ottolenghi has been publishing a column titled The New Vegetarian in The Guardian, slowly convincing Londoners to eat more vegetables and less meat.

The New Vegetarian touts creative recipes that draw on mostly Mediterranean flavors and ingredients, such as mushroom, garlic and shallots with lemon ricotta (see above photo), mixed bean salad with eggplant pahi (check out the photo below) and eggplant with buttermilk sauce (see video clip above).

Why stick with British meat pie when you could eat a Jerusalem artichoke and goat cheese souffle?

After writing The New Vegetarian column for years, Ottolenghi assembled his best vegetarian recipes into a cookbook, Plenty, which was published last year.  Reputed for being filled with meaty dishes for the non meat eater, the recipes appeal to both vegetarians and carnivores alike.

Being a vegetarian doesn’t have to be colorless and boring, it seems like Ottolenghi is saying.  Or, you can have your meat and love your vegetables, too.

: The New Vegetarian (The Guardian)

Try out some vegetarian Green Prophet recipes::
Syrian Tomato Salad
Lebanese Okra in Olive Oil
Lemon-Scented Vegetarian Couscous

The post Israeli Chef Yotam Ottolenghi Brings Sexy Vegetarian Cuisine to London appeared first on Green Prophet.

Since 2007, land dedicated to organic greenhouse farming across the United Arab Emirates has increased by 15 percent

Despite some debate over the carbon-footprint of locally grown food when using desalinated water, it is widely accepted that growing your own food locally is better and greener than shipping it in from all corners of the world. Therefore, revelations that the modest organic farming movement in the United Arab Emirates is on the rise is definitely good news.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Environment and Water, the total area of organic greenhouse farms reached 2,196 acres in 2010, up from just 110 acres in 2007. Whilst the growth is small, it is a step in the right direction in a country reluctant to reduce its dependency on oil to desalinate water or reduce its waste.

It also means that local farmers are tapping into the growing organic movement that is blooming the Gulf states and organic supermarkets don’t have to rely on imported organic goods. For example, the amount of organic produce grown in greenhouses in the United Arab Emirate reached 5,268 tonnes in 2010 which is a big increase on the 264 tonnes grown in 2007. Those local organic stores championing better and healthier food now have no excuse for not stocking local organic produce.

Becky Balderstone, owner of Ripe (previously known as Bumble Box), which delivers organic produce boxes straight-to-your-door told Gulf News that she had seen a increase in organic farming in the UAE. She added that she now sources vegetables for her boxes from two organic farms in Abu Dhabi.

“Supermarkets never used to supply the amount of organic, local vegetables that they do now, it’s incredible what’s available,” she told Gulf News. “Farmers start planting in September and by mid-October you will be able to see pumpkins, leeks, peppers and all sorts. It’s not just cucumbers and onions any more.”

Greenhouse organic farming is believed to save water, a precious resource in the water-short Middle East, by reducing evaporation due to the heat and allows crops to be better monitored and protected from pests. Organic agriculture is also widely embraced as it minimizes environmental degradation and is considered to be healthier as organic produce doesn’t contain pesticides or chemical residues.

:: Gulf News

:: Image via thebittenword.com/flickr.

For more on Green initiatives in Dubai see:

A Greener Space Planned Between Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Paddle For The Planet This World Environment Day

Dubai Ends Cheap Local Gas

The post Organic Farming On the Rise In Emirates appeared first on Green Prophet.