Fresh, green fava beans appear in the Middle East for just a few weeks. Eat them as they are or accent another vegetable with them. Those fat, ungainly-looking pods conceal a fleeting vegetable delicacy: fresh fava beans. Maybe it’s a good thing that the season for them is so short – it makes the work […]
Make your own chocolate treats with this easy sweet recipe. Valentine’s Day is behind us, but love of chocolate lingers (see our post on why Fair-Trade or organic chocolate is the ethical way to indulge). These rich mouthfuls have no added sugar and are packed with chocolatey goodness – a real slow-food dessert (like our […]
Put up a tomato confit on your next day at home. Yes, fresh tomatoes are but a dream in frozen Northern countries right now. But here in the Middle East, hot house tomatoes are abundant and surprisingly inexpensive. I had six fat ones on my kitchen counter, just at the cusp between very ripe and […]
Enjoy this fruity bulgur salad at your Tu B’Shvat seder. Rabbi Judah, a sage who lived in the 2nd century, said that wheat – not an apple – was the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. The stalks of wheat in the Garden of Eden were thought to have been “as tall as the cedars […]
Wander off the beaten trail in the West Bank, and find a treasure of a guesthouse in Sebastia, near Nablus The little town of Sebastia, near Nablus in the northern West Bank, was one a major city. Home to successive civilisations from its Canaanite founders to its modern-day Palestinian inhabitants (via Israelites, Crusaders and Alexander […]
Cook up a potful of fresh spinach soup for healthy winter comfort food. Cool, moist weather makes winter prime season for leafy greens in the Middle East, and spinach is one of Green Prophet’s favorites. As with our creamy eggplant soup, it’s natural to turn turn this delicious local vegetable into soup. Featuring fresh spinach […]
Maca, goji berries… what gives? Miriam shows how to buy local superfoods without the cost and fancy wasteful packaging. Colorful, flavorful, wonderful, natural products crammed with every natural antioxidant, mineral, micro-nutrient, essential fatty acid and protein you can think of. And I can get them for you, too – wholesale. What? These aren’t superfoods? You’re […]
No turkey here; but plenty of other good things that can make holiday meals festive yet veggie. Although I admit to sometimes being a meat eater, I do agree that eating meat can go overboard on national secular holidays like Thanksgiving in America, and especially when I look back on how it was celebrated back […]
New parents and nursing Muslim women will be pleased to know the Islamic perspective on nursing is pro-breastfeeding. And it doesn’t cost the Earth. At Islam’s core of a stable society is a functioning family where, interestingly, the mother has a higher status than the father. And for a family unit to be healthy, mothers […]
Interested in finding out about Slow Food, Slow Travel and some of the most beautiful places in England to slow down? Want to know about people who have chosen the Slow Life? This is the book for you – a journey and a resource. It is a gentle meander through England, a ramble across the […]
Try a new twist on traditional tabbouleh, with quinoa instead of bulgur. Tabbouleh is a standard part of mezze – the array of small, piquant dishes set down on the table before a serious meal in the Middle East. Traditionally made with bulgur wheat, tabbouleh is really a cold salad packed with herbs and vegetables. […]
They exist here in Israel too! Too much pizza and cheeseburgers, and not enough exercise and whole food diets. One of America’s most popular internet health news websites, Natural News, is telling its readers that Americans are on their way to becoming a nation of overweight and obese people and that three fourths of all Americans […]
In the time it takes to go out and buy fast food or wait for the home delivery, you can whip up delicious home-made – and healthy – sandwiches. It takes five minutes to put together a sandwich based on foods from the pantry and fridge. And you save money using up some of the […]
You’ll eat well and save money by changing the way you look at holiday leftovers. This time of year is a time of intense food activity. For Jews, the High Holidays are taking off with symbolic foods called Simanim, and for Arabs, Ramadan just came to a close (have a look at the lively, vegan […]
Foods flavored with honey symbolize the desire for a sweet New Year in the Jewish calendar. Go the locavore way and pick up some local honey for baking this Rosh HaShanah. Local honey is good for you – and what better way to eat it than by celebrating the holiday with this light, spicy cake?
Arak – spirits flavored with anise seed. A seductive (and sustainable) drink loved all over the Middle East. The waiter comes carrying a tray with a bottle, a small pitcher of water, ice, and lots of glasses. You pour the clear, anise-fragrant arak out of the bottle, only about one-third of the way up in […]
Who can resist a potato? These crisp-skinned potato wedges seasoned with olive oil and Middle-Eastern herbs make a great side dish for any meal. The warm scent of organic potatoes roasting in olive oil and pungent spices. Far healthier than fries. And the good feeling of slow food happening in your own kitchen, with an […]
Folks seeking new taste sensations are going wild over the flavor of freekah, frikeh (Arabic: فريكة) or farik, an Arabic smoked green wheat – a staple in the Middle East for thousands of years. Where wheat grows in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, people set aside part of the harvest to make freekeh. Its young […]
Light, fresh fruit is the sweet of choice to round off summer meals. Here’s a fresh fig dessert for adults to savor, and one that will delight children too. Figs come into Middle Eastern markets twice a year, in July and in September, but their seasons are always short. We rush to get some organic […]
Busy moms can lose their “green” focus. Green Prophet’s EcoMum goes over 7 focal point tips to keep over-stretched moms on their “eco” pointe. It’s been a while since this EcoMum reported her tips on Green Prophet. I’ve been in my “mummy bubble” and from here I take it for granted that most people these […]
Summer time is tomato time, and not just for salads. Slow-roast some to taste the depth and sweetness of all their flavors. In Middle East open-air markets, we now see piles of ripe tomatoes. And since they’re seasonal and cheap, we enjoy them raw and sliced into all kinds of salads, sometimes cooking them when we […]
This common potted plant can now become part of your daily diet. Naomi offers 4 recipes for taking advantage of this healthful plant, which offers more than just sunburn relief. Image via odetothebigsea Growing up, my mother was always interested in natural remedies to mild health issues, whether it was burns, cuts or the flu. […]
Tel Aviv Carmel Market. Above image via esme Visitors to Israel’s best fruit and vegetable markets already know the country’s two most famous landmarks: The Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, which winds down from trendy Sheinkin Street right down the Mediterranean the Sea. And Jerusalem’s Machane Yehuda market, which anthropologically speaking, is most interesting on […]
The temperature’s rising! Part of your perfect summer meal must be fresh and fruity! Naomi gathers 7 excellent recipes for your feast. Image via vintagedept Did you ever feel like you were running out of options for summer meals? When it comes to meal time in the summer, it is always a challenge to balance […]
Baba ganoush, baba ghannouj or baba ghannoug (Arabic بابا غنوج ) is an Arab dish of eggplant (aubergine) mashed and mixed with various seasonings. It’s one of the best flavors the Middle East has to offer. Scientists say after seven or so years your body’s bones and organs regenerate, meaning most of us are a […]