I’ve been drinking a few cups of green tea every day for the past few years. I do enjoy the taste but more than that I’ve noticed that since I began drinking the brew I’ve experienced fewer cold viruses. So now when I have a scratchy throat, instead of popping vitamin C pills I drink extra green tea. The tea is easy on my stomach unlike coffee. I recently discovered matcha green tea, which as you can see below presents as a vibrant green powder instead of tea bags. Matcha tea is ground whole green tea leaves, so you end up drinking a super strong concentration of its cancer-fighting plant chemical epigallocatechin gallate (up to 3 times more than is found in regular green tea), yet with only about a third of the caffeine in a cup of brewed coffee…so less stomach irritation and jitters.

To prepare a cup of matcha tea, you only need about a half to one teaspoon of the powder mixed into warm water (boiling water can destroy the tea creating a bitter taste) and then whisked briskly until the tea dissolves and a foam is created. It tastes like regular green tea but more intense. Matcha tea is all the rage now, added to smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal, banana bread and even cookie dough. It adds that beautiful all natural grass-green hue (I have a feeling St. Patrick’s Day recipes will pop up next year using matcha tea!).

Below is my first try at an easy matcha smoothie incorporating my usual fave smoothie ingredients. It’s mildy sweet, rich and filling. Enjoy!

Matcha Green Tea Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup vanilla soy milk

1 small frozen banana

1/2 cup diced pineapple

1 tsp matcha green tea powder

2 tablespoons chia gel*

Directions

Add all ingredients to a blender, and blend on high until mixed well.

*To make a batch of chia gel, mix 2-3 tablespoons of chia seeds into 8 ounces water and let sit for 15-20 minutes.