Chances are, green tea is nothing new to you. But have you tried the Matcha variety? It is green tea in powder form and contains caffeine like all green teas. It also contains amino acids – which bind the caffeine and help your body digesting it.
Matcha is very rich in anti-oxidants and contains lots of nutrients such as the already mentioned amino acids = proteins, chlorophyll, iron, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin B1, B2, B3, vitamin E and vitamin K.
Matcha is not truly raw; the young leaves are steamed dry in the process which is likely to heat them too much to keep the raw quality. As it is mainly used for taste and, despite its bright green colour, completely natural, this shouldn’t be too much of a worry.
RECIPE FOR GREEN TEA MATCHA ICE CREAM SHAKE
Ingredients for 2 servings:
1/4 cup nut milk or nut milk ice cubes with a dash of water / nut milk to get the blender going
1 TBSP matcha powder – I use this one
3 frozen bananas
stevia to taste / coconut nectar / agave / xylitol / maple syrup / honey
Decoration: cacao nibs & cacao powder
Preparation:
Blend nut milk with matcha.
Add bananas and sweetener to taste, blend until smooth.
Divide into glasses, decorate with cacao.
Tips:
1. The trick for the ice cream shake texture is to use mostly frozen ingredients and to only blend just enough to get it smooth. If you use too many liquid or non-frozen ingredients, or if you blend your mix for too long, it will turn into a smoothie. If you notice that is it too liquid, add more frozen bananas or nut milk ice cubes.
2. If you would actually prefer a smoothie, simply use non-frozen bananas for your recipe.
3. If you do not want to use bananas, try avocados. Peel and de-stone them if you are going to store them frozen.
4. Freeze almond milk in ice cube trays. You could also freeze almond milk blended with matcha in ice cube trays if you have the feeling you might make matcha shakes and smoothies more regularly.
Notes:
C = cup, 240 ml
1/2 C = half a cup, 120 ml or / TBSP
1/4 C = quarter of a cup, 60 ml or 4 TBSP
TBSP = table spoon, 15 ml or 3 tsp
tsp = tea spoon, 5 ml
“soft dates” = medjool are usually best. If necessary, soak briefly and drain. The soaking water is super sweet by the way!