Cool as a Cucumber Smoothie

Raining cats and dogs… Shakin’ in my boots… Cool as a cucumber… these are all expressions I use on a regular basis. However, if you had asked me last night whether I was feeling “cool as a cucumber”, I definitely would have said noooooo!

The violent weather throughout Ontario spawned a tornado that touched down in a nearby neighbourhood only about 10 km away from where I live.

Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling very “cool” with the wind and rain literally hammering the windows. The electricity was cycling on and off continuously. And I had fear in my body as I tried to herd my cats into the basement (downstairs with the dog, really mom?!)

Fortunately, despite what appears to be significant damage to many homes in the neighbourhood and a state of emergency for our township, no one was seriously hurt.

We can all be grateful and so thankful for that!

If you’re having one of those days, hopefully this smoothie can help you feel cool, calm and collected quickly enough.

About a month ago I was approached by the wonderful folks at Meghan Telpner Inc. and offered a chance to develop a recipe using moringa leaf powder for a cookbook for Organics 4 Orphans.

I mentioned this tremendously cool organization before in my post about the From Scratch cookbook I was part of, with 100% of proceeds going to support the organization’s work. (By the way, we helped raise over $4,000 for them with that cookbook. A big thank you to everyone of you who bought a copy!)

I immediately jumped at the chance. I love to develop new recipes, and I love to experiment with new ingredients in the kitchen.

Nutritional Benefits of this Cucumber Smoothie

Moringa leaf powder is super nutritious but in my experience not always super delicious. I had several (total, utter flops) while developing a snack or smoothie recipe using this superfood. Fortunately, I persevered and this smoothie was ultimately born from the ashes!

My Cool as a Cucumber Smoothie is minty, zesty (from the lime), barely sweet but unbelievably luscious. I love avocados in smoothies for just this reason! They provide creaminess but not necessarily the sweetness that bananas (my other not-so-secret fav smoothie-thickening ingredient) do.

I use avocados a lot in smoothies and this one is more savoury than sweet. Sort of like my Lean, Mean Peaches & Green Smoothie recipe.

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Nutritional Benefits of Moringa Leaf Powder

The secret ingredient in this smoothie is, no surprise, the moringa leaf powder.

Moringa leaf powder is a true superfood in every sense of the word. It’s reputed to contain more than 92 nutrients!

These nutrients include:

• vitamins A through K,
• omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids,
• all essential amino acids,
• 9 non-essential amino acids,
• antioxidants (46 of them!),
• anti-inflammatory compounds (36!),
• minerals and various other nutrients.

You can see some info here about moringa uses, side effects, doses and interactions.

For many people, it sounds like an easy way to supplement with an extra boost of nutritious goodness. As with any nutritional supplement, always talk to your doctor, health care practitioner or nutritionist before consuming it. There are contraindications to using and cooking with moringa leaf. Please research whether it’s right for you.

Moringa has an acquired taste for me, so combining it with other bossy flavours is a good idea. Here, I added mint and lime, which help to hide the grassy, bitter undertones of this powerful green superfood. In fact, I couldn’t taste it at all in this smoothie. And isn’t there an expression like “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?” Here, the apple does lend some much-needed sweetness to this smoothie.

You can add more moringa leaf powder than the ¼ tsp I’ve been using. But be careful about adding too much because moringa leaf powder can have a powerful detoxifying and/or laxative effect.

Take my word for it… especially after several days of recipe development… I’ll leave it at that. 😉

With that visual in mind, here’s the recipe for my cool, calm and cucumber-y smoothie:

Looking for more smoothie recipes? Try my Blueberry Ginger Smoothie or my Apple Pie Smoothie Bowl.

Life is a plate… eat up!

Ashleigh