As you probably can tell I love green smoothies. Most of the time I use spinach for my greens, but kale and Romaine are nice to use too. But I never thought I would use Arugula until about 2 years ago when I ran out of spinach while making our evening smoothie. Arugula has a peppery-mustard smell, but the flavor is more reminiscent of mint – very refreshing!
For those of you who aren’t familiar with this spicy green, Arugula is a leaf vegetable, and has been grown in the Mediterranean since Roman times. Because of its strong flavor Arugula is often mixed with milder greens to balance the flavor. Arugula is great to sauté with other fresh vegetables with or without olive oil. It’s a great replacement for escarole, and dandelion greens.
Arugula is rich in vitamin C and potassium, and is considered a cancer-preventing food. It has the same amount of calcium as spinach, but has better calcium absorption.
During ancient Roman times Arugula was considered an aphrodisiac. Arugula usually is collected in the wild. It wasn’t until 1990 that this spicy green was cultivated on a large scale. You can purchase Arugula both in its organic cultivated state, or as the traditional wild leaf. I tend to purchase the wild variety as it has a much stronger flavor. I hope you enjoy this next recipe!
Ingredients:
3-4 handfuls Arugula
1 scoop vanilla-hemp protein powder
1 scoop Delicious Greens 8000 (or other powdered greens supplement)
2 cups mango chunks (fresh or frozen)
2 medium bananas, peeled
1 spoonful raw honey or raw agave nectar
1 T bee pollen
4-6 drops SweetLeaf Stevia clear liquid
3-4 ice cubes purified water
purified water
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Cover blender half-way with the purified water. Blend on high until super smooth. This recipe yields about 2 to 3 tall glass servings.
Vega-Riffic Recipes 