First of all, let me answer the obvious question here: wtheck is Moringa!?
The best comparison I can make is that it's a lot like matcha, but has more powerful health benefits and is more bitter in taste. Also, it provides a natural energy boost, but doesn't have caffeine, which means you won't have that 3 p.m. crash from it.
If you want to learn more, I think this article does the best job comparing Moringa and. Matcha: Battle of the Greens: Moringa vs. Matcha. And this article does a great job explaining why it's so, so, sooo good for you: 11 Surprising Facts About Moringa And How It Can Improve Your Health.
When Chris and I were in Kenya, we picked Moringa leaves and processed them all the way through to consumption. This meant drying the stalks, pulling the leaves off of them, grinding it to powder (a machine did this part), weighing, measuring and packaging it - and even creating the nutrition label. It was super cool and, obviously, not something we could do in the US for resale because, ya know, health codes.
This is the Moringa leaf after we picked it from the stalk and dried it in the sun for a few days. After this, we ground it to powder!
We brought six containers of it back, which was really lucky, because I had no idea it's pretty pricey in the US. In Kenya, it's abundant and people eat it constantly. They'd never pay the premium we pay - cost of living adjustments aside! Their access to it is our like our access to refined sugar.
So, now that you're a Moringa expert, I wanted to share an awesome smoothie recipe. We had an abundance of mint in our backyard (which we planted more than three years ago - mint is crazy!), so it was the inspo for this guy.
Moringa Mint Smoothie
Ingredients:
2 t. Moringa Leaf Powder (any brand will work, as long as it's powder!)
1 c. almond milk (Califia Farms is farrr and away my fav)
3 softened dates
1 handful of mint
1 t. vanilla
1 handful of ice
1 c. of spinach
To Make:
- Assemble all ingredients in a powerful blender. I love our Vitamix!
- Pulverize until consistency is smooth and creamy
- If you like it thicker, add more ice. If you like it runnier, add more milk! Is that obvious? :) Idk smoothies can be tricky to get the consistency right!
I sipped it down in seconds and cannot wait to make it again.