If fresh fruit and greens it not your thing, mint-chocolate might be what the doctor’s calling for! I’m thankful to have a couple different types of mint growing in the garden, and as it turns out, this variety of spearmint is coming on strong right now. It’s amazingly refreshing when added to a smoothie and, as luck would have it, it doesn’t take much.
What I absolutely love about this smoothie is the fresh garden lettuce! Yes. It’s been a cold wet spring that there was absolutely no sunlight for growing – just enough to survive. The zucchini plants that I put in in may just sat there for more than a month. It wasn’t until the clouds parted that the plants actually started to grow. And, now that the sun has arrived, I’ve got a bounty of lettuce. These leaves are delicately succulent with no bitters. They’re so good, you could just graze your want through the garden – which is what I did today for lunch.
In any case, I had company over this morning and offered them a green smoothie. Being grateful guests, they willingly agreed to whatever I wanted to make. Knowing that one of my guests has a love affair with chocolate, I decided to sneak in just a little:
And as you can see, it really wasn’t much. But the combination of flavors all mixed together to make for a mouth watering delight.
Mint-Chocolate Lettuce Smoothie
Clockwise from left (sort of):
- Three tips of fresh mint (about three pairs of leaves each)
- 2 cups Vanilla flavored Coconut milk
- Raw Organic Dark Cacao
- Chef’s grade Organic Vanilla powder
- Three oranges
- Two bananas
- Big bowl fresh organic garden lettuce
- (Optional: Probiotic)
- Seven little Deglet Noor Dates
Add milk, probiotic, dates to blender. Peal leaves off mint stocks and use only the leaves. Peal oranges and make sure no seeds make it into the blender. Add bananas and then stuff in the lettuce.
It’s hard to imagine that that entire bowl of lettuce fit into the blender at one time. It took a little packing, but it wasn’t too bad.
Blend for about 60 seconds. You’ll want to start out slow and get the greens turning before you whip it up to high for the 60 seconds.
When good and smooth, add the little spoonful of cacao and about ¼ teaspoon vanilla. It really doesn’t take much vanilla at all. Blend for a couple seconds so the powders mix in.
Serve.
With the volume from the oranges, bananas and coconut milk, the end result was nearly 8 cups. After using the nice glasses for the guests, I ended up with what was left over. It was probably 2 cups that tasted great and went down smooth.
I’m going to have to get me some descent party glasses that I can use for breakfast on the weekends. As much as I love me quart size jar (with lid), I don’t really need it around the house on a lazy Sunday morning.
If you love mint and chocolate, you’ll probably love this one. Life’s too short to not give it a try!
Enjoy.
Hi Marie, After posting that link to the Raw Kitchen video series about making raw hummus, I feel inspired to give it another go. I’ve got the chick peas soaking now, I’ll drain them in a few hours and give them a little time to grow. After that, it’s hummus time! I’ll post pictures even if I can’t get it spicey enough! 🙂
Thanks Dave. I am going to try the sprouting thing this week and see how it goes. I, appreciate your thoughts and tips! Andrea is a great person. She has been part of my life for almost 40 years! Crazy. . .makes us sound old huh?! She is just like family to me. I really don’t think this will be a big transition/trial for me considering I eat a lot of raw fruit and veggies anyway (usually don’t eat cooked except for 1 meal/day), but I still like to eat a nice BBQ steak or chicken breast every once in awhile. . .so it will definitely be interesting. Thanks again for the great resources!
Hi Marie, Looks like we have a mutual friend! I’m excited for Andrea’s new future and love her motivate approach to life that she shares on facebook.
Haven’t made hummus in a while, but there are lots of recipes on the web. Whenever I’m looking for something I Google “raw rood X” or “raw food X recipes” and read them over. As simple as that sounds, it took me a while to really figure that out.
Almost two years ago when I decided to include more raw in my diet, I had a hard time finding resources that would help me understand exactly how to make ‘food’ taste amazing. Well, it all comes down to spending a little time on the web and following links. Fortunately for you, I’ve placed my favorite links in the sidebar. They are amazing resources, but just a start.
Now, regarding Raw Hummus, this video from RawKitchen looks GREAT! I would cut down on the garlic and sprout the garbanzo beans a little longer, but it looks like it has all the right stuff. Have you sprouted stuff before? (If not, soak them for 6-8 hours and drain. Every 12 hours (or so) rinse. After about 36 hours, you’ll notice the sprouts poking through the husk. At that point, they are best to eat.)
Since its summer, I’d use fresh basil and parsley.
By the way, in the post that you made to a thread on Andrea’s facebook, I noticed that you’re giving this a go as a trial type thing. My advice is to make sure you eat enough calories to stay warm. Hummus would be a great choice. Thick green smoothies would also be great. The main idea is, if you find yourself getting cold, you’re consuming too many watery foods with not enough calories. As you go through it, I’d love to hear about your experiences.
Dave
Hi. My friend Andrea sent me to your blog because I am seriously thinking of trying a raw food diet. You have a lot of great stuff here and I am now following. Just curious, I love hummus. Do you have a recipe that you use. I was thinking of making one with Raw peas or soybeans, might be too sweet but thought I would ask your thoughts. If you get a mintue, please shoot me an email back. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks