Thyme After Time: Smoothie of the Gods

History

Imagine if you will an ancient fruit consumed as early our written language, a fruit we pass every day in the aisle of the grocery store but was once written by Homer as a gift from the gods. The ancient Chinese believed it to be a symbol of immortality. It was so sacred that in the Renaissance period, in paintings, it symbolized the fruit of Mary's womb. It's skin is full of an amazing array of phytonutrients. It's one of the most easily digestible fruits, comes from the rose family, and has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. It's the pear....surprised?

Take then, another plant...one of the oldest cultivated plants known to man. It originated in the Amazon basin in South America and was used by the Olmec, Mayans and Aztec. It's name, "Theobroma Cacao" literally means "food of the gods" The history is deep and rich; not only used as a drink for the very wealthy, it was also used medicinally and as currency throughout history. It's an amazing antioxidant. It's extremely high in magnesium which happens to be a very common deficiency in the US today. It is the cacao bean; chocolate!

Then once more, lets travel to an ancient school of philosophy run by Pythagoras who recognized this miracle food insisting it be his initiates principal food. It's been referred to as the nectar of the gods and the elixir of life. Crystallized honey discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs is still edible to this day and has not spoiled. It's in fact been a topic in the earliest know cave paintings...13,000 B.C. It's been used for thousands upon thousands of years not only as a sweetener but but as a remedy for many health ailments, an anti-viral drug, an anti-inflammatory and even in cosmetics...honey an amazing food.

Story

How did this smoothie recipe come to be? How do any of my smoothie recipes appear? Is it an amazing coincidence that 3 ingredients in this smoothie go back to almost before recorded history, all being food of the gods? I might tell you that I scoured ancient manuscripts, studied the history of food and mythology (which in fact I find fascinating) to bring this combination...food of the gods to you... but no... for this recipe at least, it came down to 2 simple facts:

1. I am a spice/health food hoarder. I become intrigued by an ingredient and search it out. I usually try it out for a bit and then it sits unused for a while until I figure out what to do with it (or it expires). This was the case with the cacao nibs.

2. Somewhere on the internet over a year ago, I saw a recipe for a pear and chocolate tart. I had never heard of pear and chocolate together and although I misplaced the recipe a while back, the idea of chocolate and pear together just sounded interesting enough to try.

But then again, you never know. Perhaps there was some otherworldly inspiration, a muse whispering in my ear that this smoothie was amazingly heavenly and healthy!

Smoothie

This recipe is more of a guideline than an actual recipe. I have no exact amounts. If you like really sweet, add more honey, Want it more tangy? Use more yogurt. I used mostly plain kefir in place of yogurt as it has a more liquid consistency and filled the gaps in the glass more easily.

The cacao nibs make the smoothie a bit grainy, for a smoother texture try dark chocolate instead and maybe even cocoa powder and blend before adding the ice cubes.