Cucumber smoothie, anyone?
How cucumber can add some benefits to your summer drink
By Jenny Pena
Cucumbers
were not my favorite growing up, it was that vegetable that I was
almost forced to try by my parents and I hesitantly would bite just to
please them. Now that I am an adult and adding more vegetables to my
diet is a priority, I am seeing new vegetables as a way to be
adventurous and as a challenge to find ways to have them as part of my
diet while truly enjoying them.
For the summer, cucumbers are great! As a detailed article on healthline.com says, they have minerals, promote hydration and even help with sugar levels (link here - https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/7-health-benefits-of-cucumber#TOC_TITLE_HDR_9).
I enjoy having them with hummus or as part of my salads, as well as in
water with mint to infuse and give it a subtle twist; like those fancy
jars you see in spas and offices that make water taste extra refreshing
and look fancy at the same time.
As I explored what to do with
cucumbers, I found different smoothie recipes incorporating cucumbers. I
have known about cucumbers being used as part of green juices but this
idea of adding it to a smoothie got my attention and I decided to try
it.
While there are tons of options out there, I decided to go
for the simplest recipe and made some changes. See link here the recipe
that I used as a guide (https://goodfoodbaddie.com/pineapple-and-cucumber-juice-no-juicer-needed/#recipe).
Picture from goodfoodbaddie.com
Ingredients
1 Large Cucumber
1-2 cups of chopped
pineapple (You can use fresh pineapple which during the summer is
available; if not, you can use canned pineapple in natural juice)
1 small piece of ginger
1 small piece of turmeric (or turmeric powder if not available, I added about ½ tsp of turmeric)
2-3 cups of cold water (I tried this with coconut water and it was delicious)
Take
all ingredients and add to the blender. Drink with pulp or use a
strainer if you want to remove the pulp. I would say, while it is a
matter of preference, removing the pulp takes away some of the fiber.
Enjoy!
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Interested in learning more about the Norwood CSA? Check out our Info Page: https://norwoodfoodcoop.blogspot.com/2021/10/how-to-join-norwood-csa.html
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