Strawberry Green Tea Smoothie

Strawberry season is here, and these beautiful red berries are on sale everywhere you look. The other day walking past my local fruit and vegetable shop I just couldn't resist them. They sat there looking so perfect and juicy ready to come home with me! After eating (OK I'll admit it , pigging out ) almost a whole package, I sat thinking what else can I do with all my strawberries???? The next day I was really looking for an afternoon pick me up, which usually has me reaching for another cup of tea. As I pulled the Matcha Tea , Japanese Green tea powder, the idea of making a smoothie with my yummy strawberries popped in my head.

I love both smoothies and Matcha but honestly have never tried a smoothie with Matcha in it, usually it's just with fruits. I've used this green tea powder as an ingredient in some baked goods, and I'm always looking for other ways to use it. Matcha is my favorite green tea because it just taste so good! , it has like a creamy texture and taste to it. There's really no other tea quite like it, and this is obvious in the price. Matcha is a more expensive tea but well worth the price, in my opinion, because you are paying for the quality.

Matcha tea is green tea leaves that have been finely ground into a powder. Since the tea itself are the ground leaves there is no waste like in a typical green tea where the leaves are steeped then discarded. The fact that we are ingesting the tea means that the body is also absorbing more of the healthy benefits found in the leaf, this also makes it a healthier or better tea than regular green tea. Matcha is rich in Antioxidants, a natural mood enhancer,cleans the body of toxins, is a zero on the Glycemic Index(will not raise insulin levels), and also contains catechins which are a renowned cancer fighting antioxidant. Matcha is also the tea used in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

So now that we have our health lesson for today we can move on to the recipe :)

Your ingredients : (1 serving)
8 strawberries
1 small tangerine
1/4 tsp. Matcha
7 ice cubes
1/3 cup / 100 ml milk (regular or soy)
honey to taste

Blender, strong enough to grinding ice cubes.

1. Wash and prepare the strawberries by removing the green stems and cut into halves. Place the ice cubes in the blender and blend until they have broken up completely. Next add the milk, strawberries, honey, tea, and squeeze the juice of the tangerine into the blender. Blend until smooth and serve! (You can experiment with adding or subtracting the amounts of the ingredients to get a thicker or thinner smoothie. )

Now this was the perfect afternoon pick me up with all the added benefits!