mint

Best Mint Smoothie Yet!

It feels like harvest time already! The garden mint is nearly a foot tall and it’s finding its way into the kitchen every morning now. There’s nothing like fresh young mint in the early spring. Ok, well, it’s nearly summer, but everything is nearly 45 days late this year so I’m still thinking of it as early spring. I just hope we get a summer before fall comes around.

But, don’t let me get off track with this smoothie. I absolutely love the fact that I’ve got a lot of different things to mix up this year. As it turns out, this combination is a real keeper. I’ve been looking for something where when you drink it your taste budds say “wow, … savory, … sweet, … rich, but what is it?” That’s what this one is! You can taste the mint, but it’s not too strong. The orange, and it’s subtle too. The sweetness shines through, but it’s just enough. And finally, it’s creamy.

Unfortunately, I’m out of oranges. I guess I’m going to have to go shopping again. This time, I’ll pick up twice as many for the mint is coming on strong.

I highly recommend this smoothie. When you pick your mint, get more than you’ll ever think will work! I picked a big handful. And, make sure that its spearmint. When I asked Lori what she thought she said, “Did you put mint in it? I wasn’t too powerful. I think you put in just the right amount this time.” When I told her it as a huge handful, she was a bit shocked.

Let’s get on with it.

Recipe:

  • 2 Medjool dates (remove the seeds)
  • 3 oranges
  • 1 larger mango
  • 1 inch slice of pinapple
  • 1+ cup water
  • 1 large handful spearmint
  • ½ lb fresh young baby Spinach.

This is a recipe that needs some pealing. Peal orange, mango and pineapple the best you can and make sure no seeds make it into the smoothie. Remove the spearmint leave from the stocks adding only the leaves. Turn the fruit and then pack in the spinach. After a go 60 seconds on high it should be ready to go.

As you can see, it made more than a quart and I’ve got more pineapple left for next time.

I really like this combination. Notice that there is no cacao in it! As much as I wanted to add it, I refrained in order to see what it was like without. Well, it’s best without!

I’m sure you’ll love this one too. Let me know.

Good day!

Mint Chocolate Orange Spinach Smoothie

If you remember from a few days ago, I wrote about trying oranges rather than apples in my Mint Chocolate Spinach Smoothie. Well, this posting is that variation. I have to admit that I like the orange base much better than the apple one. Apple is good, but orange mixes so much better with the cacao.

If you have fresh mint and some oranges laying around, this one is worth a try.

Recipe:

  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 oranges
  • 1 banana
  • 2 medjool dates
  • Heaping spoon full raw cacao powder
  • Big hand full fresh garden spearmint
  • ½ lb fresh baby spinach

Remove the leaves from the mint stocks, remove the seeds from the dates and pretty much mix everything up on the blender.

As you can see, I added the cacao last. Everything else is just packed it.  Got to love that Vita-mix!

Got a little bit more than this, but the tastes all come together to make something that’s sweet and minty.

If I were to make this one again, I’d use orange juice as the base in order to really bring out the orange flavor. But even with just two, the orange flavor comes through and it balances out nicely with the cacao and mint!

I love mint!  It’s the first thing I get out of the garden every year. Yum…..

Mint Chocolate Spinach Smoothie

With this season being about 45 days late, yesterday was the first day where I actually got to harvest something out of the garden – Mint! It’s at the perfect age and height. As you can see in the mug (below) I’ve picked just the top six inches (or so) getting the best four sets of leaves. When in the garden, I samples a few leaves and they were delicately succulent and beautifully flavorful. I love the first of the season spearmint.

For the last couple days I’ve been craving mint-chocolate as a smoothie flavor. Last time I dug into the mint to put this combo together, the mint was older and a whole lot more pungent. This mint is smooth and subtle so I knew it would add a delicate savory essence rather than an overpowering one. If you’ve got some mint growing where you can get it before the sun burns in a lot of flavor, you’ll love it combined with cacao!

Here’s what I did, I’m sure you’ll enjoy something similar.

Recipe:

  • 1 organic Fuji apple (That’s what I had, got a great deal the other day)
  • 1 banana
  • 2 large medjool dates
  • 1+ cup liquid (I used watered down coconut milk)
  • 10 spearmint tops (about the top 4 sets of leaves)
  • ½ lb Spinach
  • 1 heaping tablespoon full cacao powder

Seed the dates, core and remove seeds from the apple, pinch off the leaves from the spearmint add all but the seeds to the blender and whirl until smooth.

I’ve got a few leaves left over for tomorrow. I’ve also got the second half of the package of Spinach. I’m going to give it a second go with an orange rather than the apple to see how that mixes up. Orange, mint and chocolate should be a really good combination.

Get out, grow some herbs and enjoy the life they bring to your own. Mint’s one of the easiest to grow and mixes will with lots of things. And, the best part is it’s good (great) for you.

Good day.

Mint-Chocolate Smoothie

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:

Little cacao goes a long way

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

Love that garden lettuce

Clockwise from left (sort of):

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 all fit!

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.

Just part of the results

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.