I was delighted this week to find a good local source of giant aloe vera leaves! It’s been a few months since I enjoyed a smoothie made with fresh aloe vera gel, and the fresh gel is el primo for alkalizing your body and helping to get rid of inflammation and stiffness, not to mention a whole host of other great health benefits.

I wanted to make an alkalizing smoothie especially for my mom, who — for health reasons — prefers her smoothies to be on the low-sugar, low-glycemic side. She found this plenty sweet, but you will see how surprising mild in sweetness it is. Most people mistakenly think of mangoes as being a very sweet fruit and, after having made smoothies using mangoes almost every way imagineable, I can vouch for it being a refreshingly mild in sweetness.

Is Aloe Vera Gel Bitter?

Now, as for the gel… I always use the monster-sized leaves I find in the grocery store, but I know that many people have smaller plants growing at home and are itching to use those. I have heard numerous complaints about aloe vera gel being bitter, which I have never, ever experienced. The aloe juice, yes… but the gel. And I have a sneaking suspicion that the bitter gel may be found in whatever variety these smaller home-grown plants may be.

Coincidentally, my parents just picked up & planted an aloe plant over the weekend, so I will be trying it out to see if it tastes any different.

From my experience, when I cut open a fresh aloe very leaf, the gel always smells like chicken soup, not the real kind but the sort they used to make when I was in grade school. I have no idea why this is the case, but, there it is. However, when I cut out the gel and use it in a smoothie (and I use ALL the gel in a giant leaf when I make a smoothie), the flavor is utterly, completely neutral. I can even make deliciously mild vanilla smoothies with it and it doesn’t interfere with the delicate flavor.

So. That’s my spiel on gel from the sacred aloe plant (which, by the way, comes to us via the health wisdom of Egypt, how nice).

Picking up a few leaves every time you go to the grocery store is a good practice. They run about $1.99 in my area. A fair price, I think, for the kind of rejuvenating, rejuicifying effect they can have on connective tissue in your body!

To cut the aloe vera gel out of a fresh aloe vera leaf:

1. First, slice down along each side of the leaf to cut off the spiky edges.

2. Next, cut the leaf in half crosswise (just to make it easier to handle), and then cut the top layer of green skin off each piece.

3. And finally, run your knife underneath the layer of gel, just above the bottom layer of green. As you release the gel from the bottom, cut it out in blocks or panels, and when you’ve finished, scrape or cut out any extra little bits.

And take care — the gel is slippery! Rinse your hands while you’re working, so you can maintain control without losing a finger.

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What a lovely way to wake up!

This beautifully sunny glass is full of Vitamin C, whole-food fiber, and the alkalizing, energizing, soothing power of fresh aloe vera gel! Add a bit of rose water (or orange blossom water… your pick), and you’ve got a light, refreshing day-starter with a wee bit of exotic appeal.

And for those of you watching your sugar intake, this smoothie is not as sweet as straight orange juice, so you can drink more without getting a sugar rush.

I’m in love with the color of this one. The smoothie has that lovely froth typical to all fresh-aloe smoothies, but in the cheeriest of sunshine yellows. How can this not make you smile…

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One glass of this and I felt warm and ready for… well, for somethin’! A night of dancing, I’d say, if it weren’t already 11pm on a Thursday night.

This is a delicious, non-fat, low-cal, energizing drink you can make a few different ways. Made with fresh lime juice and raw cane sugar as I have shown here, it has a kind of mellow “gingerbreadiness” that is just wonderfully wintery and comforting. Make it instead with fresh lemon juice and raw honey, however, and you’ll have a more completely different flavor. Both perky and mellow, but less “dark” in taste.

I also added quite a bit of ice to mine, to give a slushed effect. But you can add just enough to get a chill and enjoy it as a smoothie.

However you do it, this is so light and refreshing… a very nice light beverage to serve to guests. A nice way to introduce your friends (or your self!) to the pleasure of fresh aloe vera gel! Which is definitely one of nature’s most effective natural energy foods. Great for athletes…both for energy as well as to aid in recovery.

Take this one to the gym or dance studio, for sure!

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This unique Live Green Smoothie is a meal, and though you could probably live on the thing, could also easily categorize as either a dessert or a high-test energy drink.

Wow.

Vanilla and macadamia nuts together are just a classic combo. And here, they combine to make a rich, creamy, delicious, mild smoothie, just loaded with minerals from the kale and the macadamia nuts, and rich with polysaccharides from the fresh aloe vera gel, it’s a pure delight. And such a lovely shade of delicate green! Green smoothies never had it so good.

And if you don’t have kale handy, throw in some fresh spinach or parsley instead. If you don’t have medjool dates, use some raw honey, cane sugar, or agave nectar if you’d like. Not into bananas? Use a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil and a good chunk of raw cacao butter instead, and jack up the sweetener a tad bit.

Extremely versatile recipe. And one you should make sure you try to keep the ingredients around as staples, so you can whip it up whenever you really need some deep, natural nourishment.

And a teaspoon of raw maca powder in this recipe would work very well, too!

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If you haven’t yet tried any of the smoothies I’ve been whipping up lately with fresh aloe vera gel, maybe this will be the one to send you over the edge and buy a handful of aloe vera leaves at your local grocery store. I’d like to say that this is my favorite one, but the thing is, every smoothie I’ve ever made with fresh aloe has it’s special appeal.

This one… a rich dark-chocolatey blast of well-being from both the intense choco-magnesium and aloe-polysaccharide. Both frothy and refreshing… and it’s made without any nut milk, and without the addition of hemp seeds. Quite spectacular, really.

What a delightful discovery. This one will become a regular in my kitchen, absolutely.

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Nu-MEE! Sweet, creamy, slightly exotic and floral-tasting… filled with the alkalizing, energizing power of fresh aloe vera gel, with a vaguely tropical undertone from mango and guava. A wonderful Live Green Smoothie that takes just minutes to whip up, and all the ingredients are so pedestrian I bought them in my own little central-New Jersey neighborhood.

Where to get elderflower water? I have no idea — online, I suppose. Normally I come across recipes for making the stuff at home. But at the liquor store is a liqueur called “St. Germain” which you can pick up to add a bit of exotic flavoring to your beverages (it’s generally sold for adding a few drops to champagne). I love it because it tastes like fresh lychee fruit to me, which I adore. If I come across elderflower water in any store, though, I will be sure to pick it up because these lovely flower waters are spectacular in Live Green Smoothie recipes!

In this case, you can easily substitute Orange Blossom Water instead (and to keep it utterly non-alcoholic for you teetotalers… although this LGS isn’t remotely a cocktail).

This recipe would also be wonderful with ripe persimmon instead of the guava, so do keep that in mind!

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The keyword for a ripe persimmon is definitely “luscious”. Funny thing how here in the west persimmon’s have the reputation for being mouth-puckeringly tart, but the truth (known so well in China and Japan) is that a ripe persimmon is beautifully, delicately, mildly custard-like. And luscious.

My grocery stores have lots of ripe persimmons right now, so hopefully you can find some lusciously ripe ones in your neck of the woods as well.

A good thing, because the healthifying benefits of persimmon are not to be snuffed at.

The Health Benefits of Persimmon

Persimmons are high in soluble fiber (the cholesterol-lowering “oatmeal” kind rather than the “celery” kind…). They’re also crazy-rich in phytonutrients — flavonoids, polyphenols, polysaccharides… the good stuff that makes your body “sing” and feel all juicy and revitalized, even if you don’t exactly understand the down & dirty of how that’s happening.

They’re also rich in beta carotene, super-high in vitamin A and a respectable source of vitamin C and antioxidants. Add that to the wildly energizing & healthifying benefits of the fresh aloe vera gel in this smoothie, and it’s really just a wonderful one to add to your rejuvenating arsenal!

And they’re just to dang luscious.

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]]> http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/2010/01/persimmon-fresh-aloe-vera-gel-smoothie-luscious/feed/ 2 http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/2010/01/delicate-raspberry-raw-smoothie-with-fresh-aloe-vera-gel-wow/ http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/2010/01/delicate-raspberry-raw-smoothie-with-fresh-aloe-vera-gel-wow/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:07:13 +0000 Angela Leeds http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/?p=5670

Oh, aloe, aloe, where have you been all my life. Crikey, I may have to rename this site the Aloe Smoothie Diet if I keep this up. I’m so in love with how fresh aloe feels energetically when I drink it, and it makes the most wonderfully delicate smoothies!

If you’re into juice feasting, you could probably add fresh aloe vera gel to your juices and live off that stuff for a few years.

I picked up several aloe leaves at the store with some interesting smoothie ingredients for the next couple days, so if you don’t have any lying about (tch… right) you might want to see if you can procure some. At my Shop Rite around the corner they are only 99 cents!

This smoothie, made with fresh raspberries (I don’t use frozen) and raw honey is light and delicate. Raspberries are not considered a “sweet” fruit, so if you don’t care to use honey, agave or another sweetener, you could certainly add a banana, some fresh orange juice or even grapes for sweetness.

But I love the delicacy without the additional fruit. And rose water added to this recipe is just a glass of deliciousness waiting to happen. For raw cocktailers, add vodka or tequila. But me… I believe I may be giving up my beloved dark tequila for fresh aloe vera gel smoothies, until further notice.

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]]> http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/2010/01/delicate-raspberry-raw-smoothie-with-fresh-aloe-vera-gel-wow/feed/ 2 http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/2010/01/honey-lemon-raw-smoothie-with-fresh-aloe-gel/ http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/2010/01/honey-lemon-raw-smoothie-with-fresh-aloe-gel/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:50:26 +0000 Angela Leeds http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/?p=5567

I am thoroughly persuaded of the healing and healthifying benefits of drinking fresh aloe vera gel, and for this reason the plant is on my Top 5 list for learning how to cultivate at home. Every time I discover another great way to enjoy it in a raw smoothie, I’m blown away by how refreshed and energized I am when I drink it. And I don’t think it’s nearly enough… not when the benefits of aloe are as significant as they are. I always feel so super-charged by it and clear. It’s rich in polysaccharides, it’s alkalizing, makes my joints and muscles feel “juicier”… a good thing.

This raw smoothie is such a pretty thing — golden yellow, a warm honey hue, with the frothy top that fresh aloe always gives. Looks and tastes like a delicious cocktail… without the alcohol! I’d like to have a few blenderfuls of this stuff every day. <<Mental note to self: buy a big bouquet of aloe leaves on next grocery trip.>> If you can’t find them at your local store, just ask the produce manager to get some in. The leaves run anywhere from $.99 to $2.29 in my area.

Here’s a nice little video of David Wolfe free-associating about polysaccharides, aloe… and a few other things. The guy is such a storehouse of so much info.

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]]> http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/2010/01/honey-lemon-raw-smoothie-with-fresh-aloe-gel/feed/ 1 http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/2009/12/vanilla-aloe-smoothie-with-fresh-aloe-vera-gel/ http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/2009/12/vanilla-aloe-smoothie-with-fresh-aloe-vera-gel/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:27:50 +0000 Angela Leeds http://www.live-green-smoothie-diet.com/?p=4987

I love vanilla, and I’m also always on the lookout for new ways to enjoy fresh aloe very gel because of it’s “miracle superfood” reputation… I just never thought the two would go so nicely together! Turns out, they make quite a lovely pair.

This smoothie is light and for the vanilla purist. It’s refreshing, you can make it sweet or less-so, you can make it with banana instead of raw cane sugar or raw honey, if you prefer. But however you choose to sweeten it, you’ll get a long-lasting blast of energy from the polysaccharide-rich aloe vera gel, not to mention the soothing, alkalizing, anti-inflammatory properties that so many rave about.

And when I’m popping aloe into a smoothie, I also make sure I put some of the fresh gel on my face and neck for a quick little facial.

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