Healthy Recipes with Green Tea

Traditionally, the star of this famous Burmese salad, laphet, is made by fermenting just-picked tea leaves for several months underground. While laphet is starting to be imported, it is still hard to find. This version, using readily available green tea, offers a quick alternative. Mix the salad at the table so everyone can appreciate the diversity of ingredients--from crunchy to savory--that make it so special.

This weight-loss tonic might help you slim down, even though it's not a quick fix for healthy habits. Apple cider vinegar's sour flavor (the acetic acid) may help you eat less and stay more satisfied. Green tea has caffeine and antioxidants that may help boost fat loss. Ginger might help you burn more calories. And maple syrup adds a touch of natural sweetness to this hydrating drink. Add this tonic to your diet in addition to sensible eating and exercise to help boost your weight-loss efforts.

Take a moment out of your day to savor this soothing tea made with lemon peel, ginger, and green tea.

Green tea soba noodles, or cha soba, are buckwheat noodles made with powdered green tea, which imparts a subtle grassy note and pretty color. You can find them in Japanese markets or online. Regular buckwheat soba noodles work just as well in this cup-of-noodles-style mason jar noodle soup.

Green matcha powder and spinach give this healthy smoothie bowl a beautiful green hue. Be sure to use frozen bananas (not fresh) to keep the texture thick, creamy and frosty.

Sweet peaches and creamy avocado combine in this vegan smoothie bowl recipe for a delicious new way to try matcha green tea. Top it with sweet and crunchy toppings for a fun, easy breakfast.

Green tea adds an energizing kick to this healthy fruit smoothie recipe to start your day on the right foot.

A touch of honey balances the bitterness of matcha in this healthy latte recipe. For a nondairy latte, swap unsweetened almond, soy or coconut milk for the low-fat milk.

In this festive sparkling-wine cocktail, homemade cinnamon-honey simple syrup is the base for this delicious cranberry-topped drink.

For this festive sparkling-wine cocktail recipe, Aperol--a bright red, mildly bitter Italian aperitif--is mixed with sparkling wine and homemade green tea-cinnamon simple syrup. If you can't find Aperol, Campari is an ideal substitute.

Powdered green tea blended with sweet whipped cream is a popular parfait topping in Japan, particularly in Kyoto. Here the cream is lightened with low-fat yogurt cheese to make a pretty and delicious topping for poached pears and other desserts.

Green tea, delicately flavored with ginger and almond, makes a delightful poaching medium for pears.

Japanese short-grain rice is sweet, pearly and sticky enough to pick up with your chopsticks. (Look for the excellent Nishiki brand of rice, available in most Japanese markets.) Do not skip the rinsing and soaking process: the initial rinsing rids the rice of the powdered bran and polishing compound, while the soaking plumps the grains with water to render them tender and slightly tacky.

Miso sauces have recently moved out of Japan and into the global culinary landscape--and why not? Here, the fermented bean paste, familiar as a soup base, becomes a sweet, delicious glaze, turning a simple roast salmon into an international sensation.

When the selection of fruit in the winter is lacking, poaching shelf-stable dried fruit in lemon-infused green tea creates a luscious fruit compote. Serve topped with low-fat plain yogurt and chopped pistachios for breakfast or dessert.

Begin the festivities with this rum-spiked fruity punch--green tea adds antioxidants and orange slices make a pretty garnish.

Here's a refreshing lemony energy drink recipe to give you a caffeine energy boost when you don't want coffee. It's a double-strength brew of green tea plus yerba maté and delivers about 135 mg caffeine plus antioxidants. Compared with store-bought energy drinks, this homemade energy drink recipe saves about 150 calories and has less than half the sugar. Add an extra-fresh taste by garnishing the rim with chopped mint. Yerba maté is a tea made from the leaves of a South American tree. Look for it with other tea in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets or natural-foods stores.

This green smoothie is packed with grapes, spinach, green tea and avocado. A touch of honey adds sweetness.

Perfect for a hot summer's night, baked tofu, bell peppers and scallions are stir-fried with udon noodles in this quick and easy dish.

Crisp and refreshing, you just may find yourself craving this beverage on a hot summer's night.