This soup originated in Morocco, where home cooks usually use spinach. But I’ve adapted it to include the abundant wild beet greens that grow in my yard. It’s rich, satisfying, and vegan. Part of it’s charm is that the greens are added last to each bowl. This keeps the greens’ flavor fresh.

Enjoy! Love this soup? We have 10 other soups for winter warmness, inspired by the Mediterranean and your journey to the East.

The post Chickpea and Wild Beet Greens Soup Recipe appeared first on Green Prophet.

We loved the feedback from the latest gadget for coffee lovers: a hybrid alarm clock that tells you to rise and shine by brewing a fresh cup of joe on your bedside table.

I’d like to present you with a spin on that old cup of joe, in the form of a nutrient-rich, energy-boosting coffee smoothie.

It can’t realistically serve as a wake-up call, as the thunderous blending of the ingredients (especially if you have a Vitamix!) would make for a very rude awakening.

However, it’s well worth getting up for. No need to go to Starbucks, either.

Recipe for healthy coffee smoothie:

• 8 to 10 Coffee ice cubes. You can brew coffee ahead of time and pour it into an ice cube tray to freeze. Here’s a tip: If ever you have leftovers from the morning’s brew, pour it into open slots in the tray!
• 1 cup almond milk.
• ¼ ripe avocado.
• 2 tsp raw cacao nibs, sweetened or unsweetened
• 1 tablespoon hemp protein powder
• Pure maple syrup or maple cream as sweetener; amount based on preference! For the ratios provided, I like to use 1 tablespoon maple cream.

These ingredients are team players; they work together so well! Using the measurements above, you’ll get about a pint of smoothie.

Consider using certified organic and fair trade coffee, to encourage responsible small-scale farming and environmental sustainability.

As far as flavor variations or additions for this smoothie are concerned, go for it!

I took this recipe from the blog, Passport to a Healthy Me, but experimenting in the kitchen is always fun for me. For this coffee drink, I’m thinking to play around with vanilla or cardamom, next time I make it (tomorrow morning).

Image: from my own kitchen.

The post Ultimate organic coffee smoothie that will nourish your body and taste buds (recipe) appeared first on Green Prophet.

Knowing that hot days are still ahead, the wise cook organizes a plan for dishes that take only minutes to prepare, yet satisfy those fickle summer appetites. First, take a look in your refrigerator.

Any pre-cooked foods (also known as leftovers) that could make a great cold dish? Cooked quinoa, lentils, bulgur and rice are excellent bases for no-cook salads. And if you’ve got some pre-cooked freekah, try the wonderful freekah, feta and fig salad.  Take a look also at our post on back-to-school lunches, where many of the recipes fit the no-cook category.

But let’s say your fridge and freezer offer nothing inspiring. Get ready to make a shopping list, and take note of the following appetizer, cold soup, sandwich, salad, and dessert. None of them require more than boiling water.

1 Appetizer: Fruity Bulgur Salad. Half the recipe will make appetizers for four people. 

Recipe: Have a Tasty Tu B’Shvat with Bulgur Salad

2. Watermelon Gazpacho Recipe

8 cups finely diced seedless watermelon, about 6 pounds with the rind

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely diced

1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup chopped parsley

3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

2 tablespoons minced shallot

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix watermelon, cucumber, bell pepper, basil, parsley, vinegar, shallot, oil and salt in a large bowl. Puree 3 cups of the mixture in a blender or food processor to the desired smoothness. Transfer to another large bowl. Puree another 3 cups and add to the bowl. Stir in the remaining diced mixture. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

3. Sandwiches: Choose one or more from our list of fast and easy sandwiches.

4. Salads: Try our Vegan Chickpea and Artichoke Salad. You can use canned chickpeas and artichoke hearts from a jar. With good bread and a dip, this hearty salad becomes a main dish.

Vegan Chickpea and Artichoke Salad (RECIPE)

5. Dessert: No doubt about it: our Fresh Figs with Arak and Cream.

Make summer sing with fresh figs, arak and cream

More light and easy recipes on Green Prophet:

• Aloe Vera Drinks
• Moroccan Carrot Salad
• Crunchy Chickpea Salad

The post 5 Cool No-Cook Recipes For Summer Dining appeared first on Green Prophet.

As noted in May’s seasonal produce feature, purslane is starting to pop up everywhere. Like dandelion greens in the US, this edible weed has recently become fashionable, appearing at upmarket greengrocers and anyplace with a claim to “organic.”

As with expensive dandelion greens, smile and pass it by. Keep your eyes open – you’ll see purslane sprouting, wild and free, in a nearby empty lot or even a neglected windowbox.

Purslane makes a tremendous number of tiny black seeds that escape their pods easily, and it grows whichever way the wind blows.

Which is a good thing for us. Succulent, with a mild lemony/salty taste, purslane stems and leaves fit nicely into any salad, substitute for lettuce in sandwiches, and add superfood nutrition to stir-fries and soups. Verdolaga con queso, the traditional Mexican purslane dish, adapts perfectly to the Middle Eastern palate with a few crafty adjustments.

Choose tender new growth for this dish. Tough older stems may be set aside for pickling or for adding to soup.

Scrambled Eggs with Purslane and Feta Cheese Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups rinsed, chopped, tender purslane – stems, leaves, and flowers if any

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large tomato, chopped coarsely

chopped fresh hot pepper to taste

1/2 cup feta cheese, cubed

4 eggs, lightly beaten

salt and black pepper

2 pita breads, halved

Sauté the onion in the olive till golden. Add the minced garlic; stir 1 minute. Stir in the chopped tomato and chili. Cook 5 minutes over medium heat or until the tomatoes soften.

Have ready your beaten eggs, but add feta cheese to the pan first. Stir it in to distribute, then add the eggs. Scramble the eggs loosely in the vegetable/cheese mixture. Season to taste.

Spoon into the pockets of warm pitas that have been cut in half.

Enjoy!

More about superfoods both wild and cultivated on Green Prophet:

Five Edible Plants You Can Pick Yourself

Make Your Own Sauerkraut

Herbel, Moroccan Wheat Soup

Photo of windowbox purslane by Miriam Kresh

The post Purslane recipe: Verdolaga con queso appeared first on Green Prophet.

While the menorah sheds its festive light, the Jewish family gathers at the table, noshing on traditional foods like sufganyot. You know sufganyot.  Those brown disks of tender dough with hearts of jam and coats of powdered sugar that lingers on the lips. Doughnuts without holes. Filled doughnuts, with jam.

Israelis named them sufganyot after the verb lisfog – to absorb or soak up. Because sufganyot are deep-fried and absorb lots and lots of oil. In fact, you don’t have to invest in a menorah to light Hannukah candles – just insert wicks into stale sufganyot and presto – impromptu candles with built-in oil reserves. (Just a joke, folks.)

But there’s a healthy option to deep-frying the famous Hannukah donuts. Bake them. The lovely vegetarian 101 Cookbooks blog by Heidi Swanson gives a recipe for baked doughnuts that works very well for sufganyot. Just don’t make the doughnut hole.

Baked Doughnuts (Sufganyot) Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups warm milk (divided)
1 packet active dry yeast (2- 1/4 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
A pinch or two of nutmeg
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Place 1/3 cup of the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes or so. Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of warm milk and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt – just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed.

If your dough is sticky, add flour a few tablespoons at a time. If too dry, add more milk a bit at a time. The dough should pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become supple and smooth. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a buttered (or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place and let rise for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. Stamp out circles with a 2-3 inch cookie cutter, or use the mouth of a large glass. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake at 375° F – 180° C until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes – start checking at 8 minutes. While the doughnuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each one in the melted butter and roll it in the sugar bowl. Eat immediately.

Gotta have fried all the same?

Try our traditional Hannukah recipes:

• Traditional Jelly Doughnut Sufganyot
• Fried potato Latkehs

The post Baked doughnut sufganyot for healthier Hannukahs appeared first on Green Prophet.

When we casually dump a can-full of chickpeas into a pan, we’re thinking of dinner, not how the ancient world ate the little yellow grains. But chickpeas  found in Middle-Eastern archeological excavations have been proved to be eaten by folks as far back as 6790 BCE. The ancients ate young chickpeas raw, boiled the mature grains, and also ate the leaves. So can we. In fact, having access to the pungent spices of the Middle East, we can make far more delicious snacks of them than our faraway forefathers ever ate. (See our delicious recipe for humous here, and our equally good chickpea-filled sambusak pastries.)

High in protein and fiber, with satisfying complex carbohydrates, chickpeas seasoned with Middle Eastern spices and roasted are easy to make and popular with everyone.

Roasted Chickpeas
makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

1-15 ounce can chickpeas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon each chile powder, sweet paprika, and cinnamon

Preheat the oven 375°F -190°C.
Drain and rinse chickpeas. Roll in a kitchen towel to dry.
In a medium bowl, whisk olive oil and spices.
Add chickpeas and toss to coat all of them with oil.
Spread chickpeas out on a rimmed cookie sheet.  Roast for 50-55 minutes until brown and crunchy, stirring half way through.
Allow chickpeas to cool before serving.

Enjoy!

More healthy, delicious, Middle Eastern recipes:

• 10 Ways to Eat Lentils
• Baba Ganoush
• Syrian Tomato Salad

Photo of chickpeas by bookgrl via Flickr.Miriam also writes a food blog.

The post RECIPE: Crunchy Chickpeas for Healthy Snacking appeared first on Green Prophet.

Before the meal kit services of Plated, Blue Apron and HelloFresh, we profiled big brother technology conceived by Kraft and Intel that can read a customer’s face and spit out some horrific recipe idea that the customer will then blindly purchase. They are rewarded with a food sample.

Now for a more wholesome approach, the Kochhaus approach: a new retail store in Germany, Kochhaus has twenty tables that each feature a healthy recipe along with the exact ingredients necessary to make it. Customers are still fed ideas, but they are more delicious and still require a certain amount of skill.

The New York Times reports:

There are three starters, two salads, one soup, four pasta or vegetable dishes, three fish and four meat main courses, and three desserts. Each table and its adjacent cooler provide everything needed to make a specific dish, and an artfully designed poster mounted on each table shows photographs of ingredients and the finished product. A folded recipe, a kind of illustrated storyboard for cooking, comes with the ingredients.

When customers enter the store, they have the option of choosing ingredients for a certain number of servings. Their choices are healthy, and – perhaps best of all – at the end of it (assuming everyone eats about the same size serving?) there will be no waste.

Four business partners set up a certain set of parameters. Among them, no serving costs more than $13, and no meal takes longer than one hour to prepare or requires more than twelve steps, and there are no more than 20 choices (though two new ones are added each week).

Most of the ingredients are locally sourced and organic, and costs are kept low by maintaining a small staff and developing in-house labeling and packaging.

Among the options are fried perch with avocado and rambutan fruit in Indian curry. Much healthier and alluring than a box of Kraft dinner. You can still keep one around, but just open in case of Emergency. 

One partner told the NY Times “Of course I took a close look at the food galleries of the KaDeWe (Berlin’s famous department store) and Dean & Deluca in New York, but we wanted to demonstrate that good food can be cooked by anyone, and it doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated or elitist.”

Yum.

:: NY Times

More Delicious Food Ideas:

100 Lebanese Recipes on Ipod and Iphone

Canaan Fair Trade Creates Sustainable Community of Palestinian Farmers

3 Ways To Cook With Fennel

The post Kochhaus sells portion sizes to match meals appeared first on Green Prophet.