It’s late winter, almost spring in the Mediterranean, and the time to harvest wild greens is now. In a week or two, the best will be gone to seed, gotten leggy and tough, or infested with bugs.

I went out foraging for nettles, my favorite wild edible. I was aiming to make nettles dumplings, or as they’d be known in Italy, malfatti. See our other 5 ways to eat iron-rich nettles. And here we show inventive ways to make dumlings.

Malfatti means “badly formed,” and these dumplings, quickly shaped in the hand, have an awkward, rough look. Traditionally, spinach is the leafy ingredient, and the malfatti come out white speckled with green. These, based on nettles, are a rich, dark green.

I found this recipe in the late Leda Meredith’s book, “The Forager’s Feast.”

When I mention harvesting nettles to people who don’t forage, I get plenty of rolled eyes and the usual question: “Don’t you get stung, picking them?”

I do get stung. In my first years of picking nettles, I found that wearing gloves and taking scissors along was the way to deal with them.

Snip the stems and holding them with the scissor blades, put them down, all facing one way. That makes them easier to handle when rinsing them and hanging them up to dry.

But that was years ago. I pick nettles with bare hands now, and while I feel the sting, I don’t mind it anymore. Remember, all the sting goes away in the cooking. If you’re new to eating nettles and curious about their flavor, I’ll say that they don’t taste like spinach.

All wild greens are described as tasting like spinach, but the truth is that each has its distinctive taste, as with artichokes and lettuce, which are botanically related but taste nothing like each other. Nettles’s taste is dark, if you like, and a little salty; a little like seaweed.

This is how I learned to make delicious green malfatti. Like the ancient recipes that start, “First go out and catch a rabbit,” you need 4 ounces of raw, rinsed nettles that you went out and picked yourself.

Nettles Malfatti Recipe

Serves 2 as a main dish; 3-4 as a hot appetizer or side dish

Ingredients:

4 oz. – a tightly packed 1/2-cup of raw nettle leaves – stripped from the stems. My note: ignore any seeds present; they’re also excellent nutrition when young and green.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped finely
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or more if liked
1/2 cup cup flour for rolling the malfatti in
About 1/2 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup grated extra Parmesan for saucing the malfatti

Instructions:

Blanch the nettles. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil.

Drop the nettles in and cook for 3 minutes. I set the timer on my phone to avoid over-cooking. You’re only blanching the greens here.

Have ready a bowl of cold water. Remove the blanched nettles from the hot water with tongs or a slotted spoon and immediately drop them in the cold water. Let them sit for a minute or so or until cool.

Drain the nettles in a colander or sieve, and squeeze as much liquid out of them as possible by pushing them hard against the side of the colander. Do this over a bowl, to catch that dark-green juice. It’s tasty and sky-high full of nutrients. You can add it to soups or green smoothies later.

Coarsely chop the wad of squeezed-out nettles.

Empty the pot you boiled the nettles in. Pour the olive oil in and set it over medium heat to warm. (Leda’s tip for reducing the washing up by one pot).

Cook the onion in the oil until soft and translucent, stirring, 4-5 minutes.

Using the knife blade of a food processor, blend the onions and nettles together with the salt and pepper, eggs, breadcrumbs, and cheese until you have a coarse paste.

Scoop the nettles mixture into a bowl, cover it, and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. I’ve let it mature as long as 24 hours.

Set a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.

Either flour a surface like a baking sheet with the 1/2-cup flour, or dump the flour into a wide bowl. Either way, flour your hands. You’ll need to flour your hands again at intervals.

Pinch off a generous tablespoon of the chilled dough and roll into a torpedo shape. Some prefer a nice round dumpling like a mazah ball; your choice. In either case, your palms will be green.

Roll each malfatti in the flour and set it aside on a floured surface while rolling the rest. If your bowl is wide enough, just place them around the inside and roll the rest of the malfatti in the flour heap in the center of the bowl.

Gently lower the malfatti into the water, which by now should be boiling. Don’t crowd the dumplings; they swell and need room to move. You’ll know they’re close to done when they rise and bob around. Cook them 4-5 minutes, no longer or they’ll break apart. You may need to do this in 2 batches.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked malfatti to a platter or serving bowl.

Gently pour melted butter over the malfatti, and sprinkle with the extra grated Parmesan. Serve right away.

Some take malfatti to another level by baking them, cooked as described above, in a bechamel or a tomato sauce for 15 minutes at 350° F – 175°C. Sprinkle with more cheese before serving.

The post Make nettle dumplings, also known as nettles malfatti appeared first on Green Prophet.

Farm To Table Israel is transforming the traditional dining experience into a hands-on journey.

“People want to see and experience where the food comes from,” says Farm To Table owner Yakir Knafo. “I like to introduce guests to the small, ‘romantic’ farms where they get a personal feel for connection to the land.”

And you can hardly get more personal with the land than pulling carrots out of the ground yourself; carrots that you’ll watch a chef cook a little while later for lunch. Or standing under a tree peeling a juicy orange you plucked off a branch a second ago.

An hour in the field is followed two hours of a 7-course meal filled with the genuine flavors of Israeli food. It might be cooked then and there on the farm, to be eaten in the open air. Or you might head back to the Alhambra deli in Jaffa, where Farm To Table Israel guests feast at a communal table. You’ll enjoy a meal that’s as much about storytelling and community as it is about fresh, local flavors, and where every ingredient comes from local sources – even the salt.

Culinary tours include visits to an olive oil press, followed by a meal where every dish features a different local olive oil; or to a vineyard and boutique winery that shows how Israeli wines have gained international recognition. Or a group may visit one of the local dairies. A tour of an apiary and honey tastings in the works for the near future.

Each tour ends with a meal freshly cooked by Yakir and chef Aviel Elbaz, with the participation of any guests who like to cook. There’s a story behind every dish, even behind every ingredient. Guests leave the table enriched with history, a sense of connection with the land, and naturally, the lingering wellbeing that’s the gift of a delectable meal shared with friends.

Related: Ada’s home-roasted coffee in Jaffa

And that’s just one of the culinary experiences offered by Farm To Table Israel. Groups can also book hands-on cooking workshops for groups of friends and for business groups on a day out. Workshop themes include pickling and fermentation, seasonal cooking, and making pasta. Yakir told us that they will create a workshop focused on a special theme too, if requested.

Then there’s Alhambra, the Jaffa base for Farm To Table’s culinary workshops. It’s a café by day and wine bar by night, as well as a delicatessen offering Israeli gourmet specialties.

All of this was born of Yakir and Aviel’s vision to make food the connection between people and the land. Yakir has an enormous love of nature, the farmer, and the goodness of Israel’s sustainable foods. His enthusiasm overflows in spontaneous talk as visitors harvest, cook, and eat together.

Jaffa, close to Tel Aviv, is the mixed Jewish-Arab neighborhood where Alhambra operates, and where Yakir lives with his family. He interacts comfortably with close-by Arab businesses:

“We live together, after all. I get fish from Ibrahim, orange juice from Salem, and kitchen equipment from Abu Avram. We respect each other,” he says. His voice softens as he says that seaside Jaffa is very much like the Moroccan port town of Essaouira, where his grandfather was chief rabbi.

Alhambra is kosher under rabbinical supervision, dairy/fish. The partners offer cooking workshops there, but a group may also book a workshop near home.

::Farm To Table
::Deli Alhambra 
30 Jerusalem Blvd., Tel Aviv
+972 523 255 370

Traveling to Jaffa in the near future?

Read our green guide to Jaffa

The post Farm To Table Israel Connects People To The Land appeared first on Green Prophet.

Eyeing the mushrooms for sale in the local supermarket, I was intrigued to see shaggy, pearl-white Lion’s Mane mushrooms (H. erinaceus ). It’s not often found fresh, and is mostly used as a health supplement in capsule, powdered, or tincture form.

Traditional Chinese medicine has used it to improve memory and ability to withstand stress, and ease depression, for centuries. This could be helpful for women in menopause, to take just one population needing relief.

Western medicine has begun to recognize the benefits of Lion’s Mane mushrooms. Studies made on mice show tremendous potential for improving cognitive impairment, depression/anxiety, and other major ailments. This is attributed to the antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties of the mushroom.

Research so far has been limited, and mostly made on people with mild Alzheimer’s disease. Those studies show participants’ improved memory and mood after treatment with Lion’s Mane. Now a pilot study published in the National Library of Medicine presents a different angle: prevention of cognitive decline and health in older age by taking Lion’s Mane while still healthy.

Participants in the study were 41 healthy young adults, men and women, taking Lion’s Mane regularly over 28 days. They showed enhanced memory and improved mood, as well as more ability to withstand stress.

Laboratory mice treated with Lion’s Mane showed faster recovery from nerve injuries, protection against stomach ulcers, lower blood sugar, a healthier heart, higher immunities, improved memory and mood, and even cancer prevention.

Quite a list! Will Lion’s Mane mushrooms rise as the new miracle medicine? That’s something we won’t know until more extensive studies are done on humans.

Caveats: Lion’s mane mushroom might cause the immune system to become more active, which can be great in normal cirumstances such as during flu season. But this could increase the symptoms of auto-immune diseases.  According to WebMD, Lion’s Mane mushroom should be viewed with caution by people with these conditions:

Those with auto-immune disease such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus rheumatoid arthritis, pemphigus vulgaris (a skin condition), and others. If you have one of these conditions, it’s best to avoid using lion’s mane mushroom.

Patients taking anticoagulant/ antiplatelet drugs: Lion’s mane mushroom might slow blood clotting. This might increase the chances of bruising and bleeding in people with bleeding conditions.

Before surgery: Lion’s mane mushroom might slow blood clotting and reduce blood glucose levels. This might cause extra bleeding, and interfere with blood sugar control during and after surgery. Stop using lion’s mane mushroom at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.

Before a transplant: The strength of immunosuppressants – medications that decrease the immune system – may be weakened by Lion’s Mane.

Diabetics taking medications: Lion’s mane mushroom might lower blood sugar levels. Taking lion’s mane mushroom along with diabetes medications might cause blood sugar to crash.

Now let’s assume that all is well and you want to taste the famous mushroom fresh. Lion’s Mane are hard to grow. To get them fresh, you had to either forage them yourself – assuming you were in the correct, humid forest conditions – or order them from specialty farmers.

I tried growing Lion’s Mane mushrooms myself, out of a kit, but alas – my kitchen window didn’t offer the right conditions. So I was excited to bring some of those Lion’s Mane mushrooms home. I’d have to eat a measured amount of the mushroom on a daily basis to benefit from its medicinal properties, but I wasn’t set up to conduct scientific research in the kitchen; I was set up to conduct culinary research, with my skillet, some good olive oil, and my appetite. I wonder – could we beat cogitive decline by eating Lion’s Mane mushrooms cooked in olive oil?

I chose a simple recipe that allows the umami-rich flavor of the mushroom to shine, without masking it by adding lots of herbs, cream, or other ingredients. This makes 2 appetizers. It may be doubled or tripled.

Enjoy!

Photo of sauteed Lion’s Mane mushrooms via acouplecooks.

The post Lion’s Mane Mushroom Recipe appeared first on Green Prophet.

Souk El Tayeb in Beirut has always been more than a farmers’ market. It is a small miracle in the heart of Lebanon—a community place where farmers, cooks, refugees, artisans, and city dwellers gather around the simple idea that food can heal a country.

Founded in Beirut during a time of deep political strains, Souk El Tayeb became a meeting place where sect, class, and region dissolve into the shared pleasure of tasting ripe tomatoes, kneaded manousheh, or warm kebbeh made by someone whose village you may have only heard about.

What makes Souk El Tayeb remarkable is not only its insistence on local, seasonal produce, but its belief that dignity and sustainability must go hand in hand. Farmers are paid fairly. Villages are uplifted. Traditional recipes are kept alive not as nostalgia but as knowledge systems: real food is carbon-light, waste-free, and is adapted to the land.

In a region where instability and terror threatens the smallest things, Souk El Tayeb remains defiantly hopeful, stitching Lebanon back together one shared meal at a time.(Related: The Pope was just visiting Lebanon uplifting the spirits even more).

And now Lebanon prepared for Eid el-Barbara, a celebration as rooted in the soil as in faith, it’s like a kind of Halloween, but gentler. As Souk El Tayeb writers described it: “It tells the story of Barbara (Saint Barbara), a pious Christian in Roman times, whose father, the pagan ruler of Baalbek, wanted to kill her for her forbidden Christian beliefs. It’s celebrated December 5 in the Middle East, and December 17 in Europe.

“To escape him, she disguised herself (hello costumes!) and ran through bare fields that miraculously grew into tall wheat to hide her as she fled.”

To remember the miracle of the wheat, families cook amhiyeh and atayef, and children plant soaked wheat, beans, or lentils on beds of cotton.

By Christmas, the sprouts become a soft green carpet for the nativity scene, the مغارة الميلاد.

This ritual also exists in Provence, where wheat is planted on Sainte-Barbe’s Day. Lebanon, France, and a shared tradition of sprouting hope in the darkest month of the year.

Another tradition is eating qatayef, a stuffed cookie, which is also eaten at Ramadan.

Eid il-Burbara or Saint Barbara’s Day, and also called the Feast of Saint Barbara, is a holiday annually celebrated on 17 December or 4 December amongst Middle Eastern Christians in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Turkey. It is also celebrated as Barbaroba amongst Christians in Georgia.

The post Slow food market Souk el Tayeb in Lebanon celebrates food and Eid El Barbara appeared first on Green Prophet.

Sheep, goat, and buffalo milk create some of the world’s most flavorful cheeses. And if you are going an extra step and can find it, camel milk cheese might be one to try.

We tend to think of dairy as synonymous with cows, and it’s true that most commercial milk products start there. But cheeses made from the milk of other animals—sheep, goats, and water buffalo—are becoming increasingly common and often easier on digestion. Many people with mild lactose intolerance report they can tolerate these alternatives. If you’re curious about widening your cheese horizons, here’s a starter list of cheese made from non-cow milk. (DairyX makes a stretchy vegan cheese).

Feta

True feta is never cow-based. This classic Greek cheese is traditionally made from sheep’s milk, or a blend of sheep and goat. It’s firm, salty, tangy, and ideal for salads or pastries like spanakopita. Authentic feta is usually sold in blocks, with a crumbly, dry texture full of little fissures. Cow-milk “feta-style” products exist, so check labels if you want the real deal. Here is a feta dish you can make worthy of a Michelin star.

Manchego

This is an iconic Spanish cheese comes exclusively from the milk of Manchega sheep raised in the La Mancha region. It ranges from semi-soft to firm depending on how long it’s aged. A buttery interior and a signature herringbone pattern on the rind signal authenticity, along with the official D.O. (Designation of Origin) marking. Curado (aged 3–6 months) is smooth, slightly sharp, and perfect on sandwiches or a tapas plate.

Buffalo Mozzarella

Mozzarella di bufala is produced from the milk of Italian water buffalo, especially in the provinces of Caserta and Salerno. Its creamy, silky texture is notoriously difficult to replicate with cow’s milk. Real buffalo mozzarella carries protected status in Italy. Counterfeits exist globally, but the authentic version has an unmistakable richness and delicate tang. Loads of TikTok videos suggest how easy it is to make. It’s not. But this salad, a caprese is easy to make after you’ve bought some mozzarella from the deli. Fresh mozzarrela should be floating in water, not hard in a bag like cheddar. The hard stuff will work for pizza but the fresh stuff is a million times tastier.

Labbaneh / Lebbene

Common across Israel and the Mediterranean, labbaneh, labne, or labaney is a soft, tangy yogurt-style cheese made largely from sheep’s milk (though goat versions exist). It’s often shaped into small balls and stored in olive oil, sometimes rolled in herbs like za’atar. It might taste “off” when you first try it but the tang of the cheese grows on your. Spread it on bread, serve with vegetables, or add it to a breakfast mezze. It’s so simple that many home cooks make their own. We take 2 parts labne, 1 part heavy youghurt with a quarter cup of olive oil and wrap it inside laffe bread. Yummy. Here is a recipe for labne here you make from yoghurt.

Humboldt Fog

Created by Cypress Grove in Northern California, Humboldt Fog is an American original made from goat’s milk. Its signature ash line running through the center helps it ripen from the outside inward. The result is a cheese that starts crumbly but becomes increasingly creamy over time, with gentle acidity and a more intense flavor near the rind. It’s excellent on a cheese board or melted over vegetables.

Halloumi

Originating in Cyprus, halloumi is a mixture of sheep and goat milk. Its springy texture and high melting point make it ideal for grilling or frying—so much so that people often mistake grilled halloumi for chicken. Traditionally aged and unpasteurized, it’s now beloved throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and far beyond.

We even have an Amish friend in Ontario, Canada making her own halloumi and selling it in markets in Toronto. It’s texture is a delight and it’s best served fried or grilled. Our friend says that one avoids a strong goat cheese flavor when the goats are kept clean and no urine makes it into the cheese. Reminds us of the expensive cat poop coffee, or argan oil made from nuts that come from a goat’s butt.

Halloumi chews squeaky. Sort of like rubber sneakers in a newly painted mall parking lot floor. It’s kind of neat though, also a bit annoying.

Pecorino

Pecorino simply means “sheep’s milk cheese” in Italian, and it’s a key member of the great Italian cheese families. Pecorino Romano is the version most commonly found outside Italy—salty, sharp, and a great substitute for parmesan. Other regional styles include Pecorino Sardo (Sardinia), Pecorino Siciliano (Sicily), and Pecorino di Filiano (Basilicata). All add depth to pastas, pizzas, and anything deserving a savory kick.

Tzfat Cheese

Produced in the northern Israeli city of Tzfat since the 19th century, this semi-hard cheese was originally made from sheep’s milk. Today you’ll find versions made from goat and cow milk too. The HaMeiri family—descendants of the early cheesemakers—still crafts a traditional sheep-milk variety using free-range animals milked by hand. The small family factory offers tastings and tours. (See also Goat’s With the Wind)

Roquefort

One of France’s most renowned blue cheeses, Roquefort is made from the milk of Lacaune sheep and aged in limestone caves. Legend says a shepherd abandoned his lunch—bread and fresh ewe’s cheese—to chase after a woman. Months later he returned to find the cheese transformed by blue-green mold into what we now call Roquefort. Its veins create a sharp, smoky tang that pairs beautifully with nuts, figs, or crusty bread.

The post Best cheese made without cow milk appeared first on Green Prophet.

I once lived on a kibbutz in Israel for a year. The saddest sound I ever heard was a newborn calf crying for its mother. That’s the hidden soundtrack of the dairy industry — cows separated from their calves within hours, udders swollen, pumped with hormones, antibiotics, and additives like Bovaer to squeeze out more milk. All that pain, all that chemistry, ends up in our coffee cups.

Enter Remilk, an Israeli foodtech pioneer creating real milk without cows. In partnership with Gad Dairies — one of Israel’s best-known dairy brands — Remilk has just launched The New Milk, a lactose-free, cholesterol-free, animal-free milk identical in taste and nutrition to cow’s milk. The product is now pouring into cafés and restaurants across Israel and will hit major supermarket chains in January 2026.

Related: Israel is the first country to approve the sale of lab meat

While we think safe, healthy, regenerative slow food is the best place to aim for, Remilk might be the healthy in-between until we get there.

Remilk’s milk is not plant-based. It’s real dairy protein, created using precision fermentation — the same process used in the biotech world to make insulin or vitamins. Scientists insert the gene for a cow’s milk protein into a microbe, which then “ferments” and produces that protein without the cow. The result: milk that’s biologically identical to dairy, minus the animal, methane, and moral compromise.

Remilk’s CEO Aviv Wolff calls it “a better, healthier, and tastier world through real milk made without cows.” Amir Aharon of Gad Dairies adds that the collaboration is “a defining moment where generations of dairy tradition meet groundbreaking technology.”

Three products are debuting under The New Milk line: a Barista Milk for cafés, and two retail versions — a regular milk and a vanilla-flavored option. They froth, foam, and taste just like the real thing, yet contain 75 percent less sugar. The milk is fortified with calcium and vitamins and, being kosher-pareve, can be served right after meat meals — a quiet revolution for Jewish kosher consumers long frustrated by dairy separation rules.

What Israelis really think about milk

Ahead of the launch, Remilk and Gad commissioned a national survey with Geocartography Knowledge Group. It found that 92 percent of Israelis still drink animal-based milk, but more than half also consume milk alternatives. There are more vegans per capita in Israel than anywhere else in the world. The main barrier for more people going vegan and dairy-free? Taste. Fifty-five percent said current substitutes “aren’t tasty enough,” while 50 percent of kosher-observant respondents said they’d happily drink coffee with milk after a meat meal — if the milk tasted real.

The New Milk may have found the perfect sweet spot: authentic flavor, ethical production, and a format that fits Israel’s dietary laws and café culture.

Beyond dairy guilt

Remilk’s animal-free protein has already been approved by regulators in Israel, the U.S., Canada (Canada gives the green light to cloned milk), and Singapore. Each market confirmed the protein’s safety and molecular identity with traditional milk. The company has raised more than $150 million USD and is scaling production globally.

Precision fermentation still uses energy, and its total carbon footprint depends on where and how it’s produced. Yet Remilk’s life-cycle analysis shows significant reductions in land and water use compared to industrial dairy. If scaled efficiently and powered by renewables, it could help phase out one of the most resource-intensive sectors of modern agriculture.

Read more on Israel’s uneven contributions to the alt meat and airy markets

Israel is the first country to approve the sale of cultured meat

Israel’s uneven impact in the cultivated meat market

Aleph Farms engineers lab-grown steaks from cattle cells

Slaughter free ribeye steak meat grown in a lab

Is lab meat kosher?

Lab-grown meat telling convenient lies about carbon footprint

Israeli alt dairy startup Imagindairy raises $15M seed

Israel’s Yofix offers dairy and soy-free yoghurt alternative

Vegan protein alternative for dairy industry (Yofix flexitarian plant dairy)

New vegan milk made from hummus (or chickpeas)

The post Israel’s first cloned milk hits cafés as Remilk and Gad Dairies launch “The New Milk” appeared first on Green Prophet.

If you’ve ever jumped on the latest diet trend only to abandon it a few weeks later,  Cleveland-based fitness coach Harsha Pakhal is here to reassure you that you’re not alone. From juice cleanses to no-carb challenges, most quick fixes fizzle out because they’re too extreme to maintain. 

You need simple, sustainable habits that will actually stick. A big overhaul of your routine and habits won’t get you there because you need to slowly combine new habits with existing ones. That’s how you change your mindset and attitude towards food.

Here’s what Harsha Pakhal says about how you can do that:

Ditch the “healthy” and “unhealthy” labels

Eating healthy is so much easier when you make it fun instead of seeing it as a chore. One of the ways to do this is to stop labelling foods as “good” and “bad.” Telling yourself a food is off-limits tends to make it more appealing. 

Research shows restriction often leads to stronger cravings and overeating once the “bad” food is allowed. So instead of it making you feel better, you end up sending yourself on a guilt trip. Your body knows what it needs to eat, and labelling or demonizing food takes away your ability to do that freely.

Prioritize Protein and Plants at Every Meal

Protein helps stabilize energy, supports muscle repair, and keeps hunger in check. Making it the anchor of each meal makes it easier to manage your cravings and stay on track with balanced meals throughout the day. So invest in those eggs, chicken, tofu, or bean staples because they’re the foods that are going to keep your hunger at bay.

Vegetables and fruits provide essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Pakhal encourages clients to focus on adding more colorful produce to their plates, which naturally creates a more nutrient-dense meal without feeling restrictive.

Stay Consistent with Hydration

Dehydration often shows up as fatigue or even false hunger cues. A simple routine like drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning and keeping a bottle nearby can make a noticeable difference in energy and focus.

Plan, Don’t Wing It

Last-minute food decisions usually lead to less healthy choices. So it’s time to make meal prepping your best friend. It doesn’t have to mean spending an entire Sunday afternoon in the kitchen. Even some light meal prep, like lunch salads and cooked protein, can make a huge difference when that hunger hits.

Practice the 80/20 Rule

Perfection isn’t the goal. By eating nutrient-rich foods about 80% of the time and allowing room for favorite treats the other 20%, clients can stay on track without feeling deprived. “That flexibility is what makes a healthy lifestyle sustainable,” says Pakhal.

Reframing Nutrition Success

For Pakhal, the real progress comes from building a rhythm that lasts. His clients often report better energy, improved mood, and greater consistency long before they notice changes on the scale. By focusing on habits rather than extremes, they create results they can maintain.

The Takeaway

If fad diets have left you frustrated, it may be time to rethink your approach. Starting with one of Pakhal’s five habits and practicing it consistently can lead to meaningful, long-term change.

About Harsha Pakhal

Harsha Pakhal is a Cleveland-based fitness coach and personal trainer. He specializes in helping clients build sustainable habits around movement, nutrition, and lifestyle. His approach emphasizes consistency, strength, and long-term health rather than quick fixes or short-term results.

The post Harsha Pakhal Tells Us About 5 Nutrition Hacks That Actually Stick appeared first on Green Prophet.

Scientists at the University of Chicago have found that zeaxanthin, a plant-derived carotenoid best known for keeping our eyes sharp, may also act as an immune-boosting compound that helps the body fight cancer. The new study, published in Cell Reports Medicine, shows that zeaxanthin strengthens cancer-fighting immune cells and may even improve the success of modern immunotherapies.

“We were surprised to find that zeaxanthin, already known for its role in eye health, has a completely new function in boosting anti-tumor immunity,” said Jing Chen, PhD, senior author of the study.

This discovery adds one more reason to eat your greens (and your oranges and reds too). Zeaxanthin is found in spinach, kale, and orange peppers—but the way we cook and combine these vegetables can make them even more delicious and bioavailable.

Foods Rich in Zeaxanthin

• Orange peppers – one of the richest sources.

• Kale and spinach – leafy greens with a high concentration.

• Corn and egg yolks – also reliable sources.

When eaten regularly, these foods don’t just protect your eyes from age-related macular degeneration; they may now also help prime your immune system against cancer.

Recipe Ideas for Daily Protection

Muhammara (Red Pepper and Walnut Dip)

This classic Levantine dip uses roasted red peppers—packed with carotenoids like zeaxanthin—blended with walnuts, pomegranate molasses, and spices. It’s a vibrant, smoky spread you can enjoy with fresh bread or veggies.

? Try our Muhammara recipe on Green Prophet.

Stuffed Orange Peppers

Fill halved orange peppers with quinoa, lentils, herbs, and a touch of feta. Bake until tender. This dish is both eye-catching and immune-friendly.

? For ideas, see stuffed vegetable recipes on Green Prophet.

Make Turkish Red Pepper Paste

If you love Turkish food and crave its flavors at home, you’ll soon find yourself stirring up the Turkish pantry staple, spicy red pepper paste. It’s a basic flavoring ingredient for many dishes in southern Turkish cuisine. There are no tomatoes in the paste; its deep red color comes from slow-cooking red bell peppers and chilies. The ingredients are simple, but the finished paste gives your food spicy complexity. Get the recipe here.

Recipe: Turkish Red Pepper Paste

Zeaxanthin is already sold as an over-the-counter supplement, but getting it from food is safer and more enjoyable. Unlike synthetic pills, food provides a synergistic mix of vitamins, fibers, and bioactive compounds. As Chen explains, this discovery is still in the early stages, but it “opens a new field of nutritional immunology” where everyday food choices can directly influence the immune system. While clinical trials are still needed, the takeaway is simple: put more orange peppers, leafy greens, and corn on your plate.

Your eyes will thank you now, and your immune system may thank you later.

The post Eat for your eyes and against cancer –– the power of zeaxanthin appeared first on Green Prophet.

At the crossroads of flavour science and sustainable brewing, a fascinating discovery has emerged: beer drinkers don’t just vary in taste—they cluster into two distinct camps. A recent study, presented at the American Chemical Society meeting on 18 August 2025 in Washington, DC, reveals that when sampling lagers with comparable bitterness and alcohol levels, beer enthusiasts diverge sharply in their preferences. Some gravitate toward bold, vibrant flavour chemicals—think strawberry-like notes—while others lean into softer, more mellow compounds reminiscent of pineapple.

The Experiment: Tasting, Testing, Splitting

Dr. Devin Peterson and his team at Ohio State University set out to go beyond the realm of trained sensory panels. Instead, they gathered around 135 self-proclaimed beer lovers and invited them to rate 18 lagers over three separate tasting sessions. Despite all beers being matched for bitterness and alcohol, tasters responded in strikingly opposite ways. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed differences in aroma-chemical profiles between the beers. The result?

One faction favored beers high in strong, expressive flavour compounds—brands like Samuel Adams and Brooklyn ranked highly—while the other group flipped the rankings entirely. “Polar opposites in how they’re responding to the product,” Peterson told Nature.

He also noted that these insights unlock new opportunities: brewers can now “tailor these products better for these different cohorts.”

What This Means for Craft Brewers—and for Sustainability

For the independent brewer—driven not just by flavour but by values—the implications go beyond market segmentation. Understanding these two flavor-preference camps means you can direct your innovations with precision rather than experimentation by trial and error.

• Precision reduces waste: Instead of broad-spectrum small-batch trials that may fail to connect with any particular group, brewers can develop two focused lines—one punch-packed, one mellow. This avoids unnecessary ingredients, energy, and wasted product when a new flavor misses its mark.
• Optimize raw-ingredient use: By choosing hops, yeasts, and adjuncts aligned with the desired strong or gentle aroma profiles, brewers can minimize overuse of materials that won’t resonate with their audience.
• Lower carbon footprint: Fewer experimental brews means less energy used in trial runs, fermentation, packaging, and potential disposal. A streamlined, cohort-aware production system is leaner and greener.
• Elevated customer loyalty: Meeting your drinkers where their taste buds are fosters connection. When drinkers feel their preferences are acknowledged and catered to, they’re likelier to return—reducing overproduction of unsold kegs.

In short, this isn’t just flavour science—it’s sustainability in action. By embracing a more discerning approach to flavour and audience, craft brewers can stay inventive while cutting waste, preserving resources, and engaging consumers more meaningfully.

Digging Deeper: Related Green Prophet Beer Coverage

Hungry for more insights into sustainable brewing and beer culture? Here are some past Green Prophet stories that speak directly to the roots and evolution of mindful beer practices:

• All About Ancient Mesopotamian Beer – tracing the origins of beer in early sustainable agricultural systems, and how ancient brewers exercised remarkable resourcefulness.
• Visiting local breweries in The Netherlands: a guide – exploring sustainable beer tourism, including eco-friendly tours by bicycle through Amsterdam’s craft-beer scene.
• Make Tej – beer from honey
• Make White House honey beer

Israel and Palestinian beer? Which is better?

At its core, this study rewrites a long-standing assumption: that beer drinkers form a homogeneous crowd. Far from it—your audience may fall into flavor extremes. As craft brewers, you now have the tools to tailor your offerings, sharpen your sustainability goals, and deepen consumer engagement.

Imagine launching two flagship series: one designed around the energetic, bold strawberry-esque flavours, the other around the serene, pineapple-like calm. Each batch could be scaled according to real demand, reducing overproduction and cooling the carbon footprint of your brew house.

Related: why Muslims don’t drink beer

Innovation meets responsibility. When flavour science aligns with purpose and sustainability, the future of craft brewing shines bright—and green.

Karin Kloosterman is Founder & Editor of Green Prophet, covering sustainable culture and innovation across the Middle East.

The post The Two Types of Beer Lovers and What It Means for Sustainable Craft Brewing appeared first on Green Prophet.

You need to fix a meal, but  it’s too hot to spend time in the kitchen. Let fresh tomatoes come to the rescue. Caprese salad, an Italian mix of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, is the appetizer you can put together in minutes – the snack to serve with crackers or toasted baguette slices – the side dish for a summery meal like our grilled chicken wings or our vegan garlicky roasted cauliflower.

Caprese salad is seasoned with salt and olive oil, and made lively with basil or aragula. Couldn’t be simpler. If you prefer to dribble some good home-made pesto over the salad, even better. Scatter some olives around the vegetables and gently mix them in – better yet.

Have some dried, ground oregano or za’atar herb handy? Sprinkle a light seasoning of either on the salad, about half a teaspoon. Not traditional, but tasty.

Caprese Salad Ingredients

6-8 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

12 oz. mozzarella cheese balls, halved

A handful of fresh basil or arugula leaves, or 2 tablespoons pesto

Olive oil to dribble over the salad, if not using pesto

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

The post Caprese salad ingredients appeared first on Green Prophet.