Almond-Cowitch Matcha Smoothie
Serves 3 Time 1 day Difficulty 2/5 Ingredients 10 Steps 4
Mucuna pruriens, commonly known as cowitch or velvet bean, is sometimes used as a coffee substitute; however, cooking leaches out chemical compounds such as levodopa (L-DOPA). If consumed unprocessed in large quantities as food, they are toxic to non-ruminant mammals, including humans.
Ingredients
Almond milk
- 1 bowl water
- 3 ⅜ cups (797 ml)
- 1⅛ cup (265 ml) almonds
Smoothie
- 2 bowls of water
- ½ cup (118 ml) almonds
- ½ cup (118 ml) cowitch
- 3 cups (708 ml) water
- 12 s
- 1 tbsp (14.75 ml) matcha
- 0.53 oz (15 g) milk thistle
Steps
- Put 1⅛ cups (265 ml) almonds, ½ cup (118 ml) cowitch and ½ cup (118 ml) almonds separately in 3 bowls of water, covered by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm). Refrigerate overnight. Drain. Do not drink this water; it has absorbed toxins.
- Put the 1⅛ cups almonds in blender with 3⅜ cups (796 ml) fresh water. Blend a few minutes until color and consistency stop changing. Wash and dry hands. Strain over pitcher, through fine sieve pressed with wooden spoon or by hand through nut-milk bag. Discard pulp or use in other recipes. Wash and dry hands. Pour almond milk into ice cube trays. Freeze.
- Put remaining almonds and cowitch with 3 cups (708 ml) fresh water in blender. Blend a few minutes until color and consistency stop changing. Wash and dry hands. Strain over pitcher as before. Discard pulp; do not eat it, it has many toxins. Do not drink or taste the liquid. Wash and dry hands. Return liquid to blender. Blend in dates, matcha and milk thistle. Refrigerate any portion not used now.
- When well blended, pulse liquid with almond milk ice to desired consistency. Serve immediately.
Notes from the original
- Instead of making raw almond milk from scratch, you could simply purchase almond milk or use cow’s milk. Just bear in mind using cow’s milk would make this recipe not be vegan, if that is important to you. There is a recipe for cooked almond milk, Sharbat bil Loz, that involves a stove, although that is not advisable, as that will destroy the food enzymes in the almond milk.
- Unlike dates, artificial sweeteners usually do not have any nutrients. If you would like to substitute the dates for something else, try natural sweeteners, such or stevia or honey instead of sugar or syrup, if you can. Just bear in mind using honey would make this recipe not be vegan, if that is important to you.
- If you do not have milk thistle, you can empty one serving of a liver/organ support/shield or milk thistle supplement, such as a 200 mg serving of milk thistle capsules, into the mixture by simply twisting open the capsules with your dry hands.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Almond-Cowitch Matcha Smoothie” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-19, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.