A lot of people
are always on the lookout for something life changing for their diets,
something that will be tasty, nutritious, and easy to incorporate into a busy
American lifestyle. For me and many
others, smoothies fit this description.
Smoothies are a great way to add an amazing amount of nutrients into a
convenient, and often refreshing, snack.
One of my favorite things to do with smoothies is add in healthy
herbs. Herbs are full of great health
benefits and they can also be a greatly flavorful edition to any food,
including smoothies.
One of the things
I do to incorporate herbs into my smoothies is herbal ice. There are two main ways to make herbal ice,
the first is very simple. You just put
the herbs in ice cube trays and add water before freezing. You can chop the herbs, or just put them in
whole. Chopping the herbs will provide a
greater amount of flavor than just using the whole herb so keep that in mind
when you're experimenting. The second is
my preferred method and is also pretty simple, especially if you want to use a
blend of herbs. Make an herbal tea and
freeze it. How strong you make your tea
will determine how intense the flavor of the ice will be. A good ratio to begin with is 1 tablespoon of
dried herb for each cup of water. Just
boil the water and pour it over the herbs, let sit for 30 or more minutes. For ice I usually let my tea sit over night
to extract all the wonderful goodness that those herbs can bring to my
nutritional table. It also will bring a
greater intensity of flavor to my smoothies.
You can also just
throw some herbs into your smoothie to blend, but I prefer to add the herbal
ice because many nutrients will be more easily absorbed by our bodies that way,
however I am not above adding a handful of herbs just for fun.
Basil
This herb is
infamous in the kitchen, but it also makes a great medicinal herb. Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is
packed full of nutrients, including vitamin K and manganese. Basil is also a great herb for helping ease
stomach problems including stomach cramps, gas, and improving the
appetite. It also helps to reduce
inflammation, ease headaches, and ease the symptoms of the common cold. There is an Indian basil called Tulsi (Ocimum
sanctum) which is used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine for heart disease,
stress, insect repellant, and malaria.
Tulsi tea is actually one of my favorite herbal teas for relaxing at the
end of the day.
Basil's flavor goes well with all kinds of berries, citrus fruit, and
other herbs in the lamiaceae family (mint, rosemary, thyme, etc). I also like it with stone fruit, such as
peaches, and with watermelon.
Basil Blackberry Watermelon Smoothie
3 cups cubed watermelon (seeded and
frozen)
2 cups blackberries
¼ cup pomegranate juice
2 ½ cups basil flavored ice
Combine all
ingredients and blend until smooth.
Taste and adjust sweetness if desired (some good sweeteners to consider
are honey, stevia, and turbanado sugar).
Chamomile
The popularity of
herbal teas has grown over the past few decades, and with it has grown the
awareness of certain herbs. Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) has become one of
the go-to herbs for most people’s tea drinking habits. And why not?
It’s naturally sweet smelling, pleasant tasting, and calming to the
senses. It’s so calming in fact that
some people can’t drink it or they will fall asleep. This herb has been popular since the days of
Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Even in the
Middle Ages, people looked to chamomile to help cure many of the health
conditions of the day. Today it is still
used as a sleep aid, a treatment for fevers, colds, stomach upset, and as an
anti-inflammatory. It’s used to help
with teething babies, as a wash to lighten hair, to help with morning sickness
during pregnancy, and to help hasten the healing of wounds. The uses for chamomile are many and varied,
which make it a great addition to a daily routine. It does come with two major cautions
though. First, be aware that chamomile
affects certain people more strongly than others and don’t plan on operating
any heavy machinery after consuming it.
Second, it is related to ragweed and a few people with ragweed allergies
might have a histamine response to chamomile as well.
Chamomile is
fairly sweet so it goes well with just about every fruit, though it is
particularly tasty with the tangy citrus fruits. It also pairs well with other herbs such as
lavender, mint, and lemongrass.
Strawberry Chamomile Smoothie
5 cups strawberries
¼ cup orange juice
2 ½ cups chamomile flavored ice
Combine all
ingredients and blend until smooth.
Taste and adjust sweetness if desired (some good sweeteners to consider
are honey, stevia, and turbanado sugar).
Ginger
The past handful
of years I have seen several friends go through pregnancy and deal with things
like morning sickness. Almost
universally, they all seem to reach for one thing when they feel sick and that
is ginger. Whether it is ginger candy or
ginger tea, it’s very well known for easing the stomach and being gentle enough
for use during pregnancy. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) isn’t just useful
for your stomach though. Throughout the
years it has been used in many situations.
Its warmth is well known and useful for boosting circulation, lowering
blood pressure, as an anti-viral, and as an anti-inflammatory. This makes it one of the best things for
colds and flus and has been researched extensively for use in dealing with
arthritis, fever, headache, toothache, and preventing blood clots. This brings to mind one warning that comes
with ginger, if you are preparing to go in for a surgery please don’t consume
any ginger beforehand as it may cause problems with blood flow during the
surgery.
Ginger’s warmth
goes great with creamy textures like yogurt and bananas, also with other
warming spices such as cinnamon. It also
goes really well with citrus, apples, pumpkin, and many other fruits.
Orange Ginger Smoothie
4 cups orange slices
1 cup avocado
2 teaspoons orange zest
¼ cup coconut water
2 ½ cups ginger flavored ice
Combine all
ingredients and blend until smooth.
Taste and adjust sweetness if desired (some good sweeteners to consider
are honey, stevia, and turbanado sugar).
Green Tea
Green tea has
always been a staple in my home and is one of my favorite comfort drinks. It is also packed full of amazing nutrients
like antioxidants. Antioxidants have
been getting a lot of publicity in recent years, they have been found to have
major health benefits, the least of which include preventing cancers. Green tea (Camellia sinesis) is also known to lower cholesterol and blood
pressure, combat fatigue, regulate blood sugar levels, and increase
metabolism. This makes it great for
losing weight and a wonderful tea for diabetics.
Green tea goes
well with vanilla, mint, rosemary, lavender, tropical fruits, citrus, and quite
a few other fruits as well.
Tropical Green Tea Smoothie
2 cups pineapple
1 ½ cups papaya
1 ½ cups mango
¼ cup coconut Milk
2 ½ cups green tea flavored ice
Combine all
ingredients and blend until smooth.
Taste and adjust sweetness if desired (some good sweeteners to consider
are honey, stevia, and turbanado sugar).
Lemon Balm
As its common name
suggests, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) has a lemony flavor and is soothing to
the nerves. It comes from the same
family as mint, rosemary, lavender, and basil.
This amazing herb is used for quite a few things including soothing the
nerves, sleeping problems, and menstrual cramps. It also helps to relax stomach, uterine, and
bladder muscles which make it ideal to relieve gas, cramps, and nausea. It has also been shown to help increase
mental clarity by reducing stress and insomnia.
Lemon balm is a great herb for almost everyone. The one caution I have about this herb is
concerning hypoactive thyroid conditions.
Lemon balm reduces production of the thyroid hormones, aggravating these
conditions.
With its lemony
flavor, lemon balm goes great with just about every fruit out there.
Peachy Lemon Balm Smoothie
3 cups peaches
2 cups banana
¼ cup lemon juice
2 ½ cups lemon balm flavored ice
Combine all
ingredients and blend until smooth.
Taste and adjust sweetness if desired (some good sweeteners to consider
are honey, stevia, and turbanado sugar).
In trying these
recipes, I found a good basic ratio that works.
Feel free to play around with it and have fun. Smoothies are really easy to adjust to your
own tastes. My ratio is 5 cups of fruit,
¼ cups liquid, and 2 ½ cups of ice. You
can add in all kinds of powders, seeds, nuts, and dried fruits to your
smoothies and I encourage you to do so.
Nouveau Raw has posted a good flavor pairing list that may help with flavor combinations.
Have fun and feel free to post any favorite recipes you come up with in
the comments below!
Resources:
Annies Remedies: http://www.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail4.php
Herb Wisdom: http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-chamomile.html
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-ginger-root.html
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-green-tea.html
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-lemon-balm.html
My Heart Beets: http://myheartbeets.com/10-herbs-for-smoothies/
Nouveau Raw: https://nouveauraw.com/raw-recipe-templates-and-development/flavor-prfiles-that-pair-well-in-recipes/
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