Moringa Delights for Halloween: Spooky Smoothies and Ghoulish Green Treats

Halloween is the one night of the year when food is supposed to look alarming, which makes it the easiest holiday to cook green for. Moringa turns a smoothie the exact shade of swamp water and gives no-bake energy balls a mossy, witch's-garden look - and unlike food coloring, it's a leaf. Here are two recipes that are genuinely fun to make with children and genuinely good to eat.

Why moringa?

Moringa is the dried leaf of Moringa oleifera, a fast-growing tree native to the Indian subcontinent. It's a dense ingredient: all nine essential amino acids, vitamins A, C, E and the B group, and calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium, plus antioxidant plant compounds. It also happens to be an intense natural green - which is the reason it's on this page.

The thing to know before you cook with it: moringa is mild but not flavorless. It's grassy and slightly peppery, close to matcha. A little gives you color and a pleasant green note; a lot tastes like a lawn. The recipes below are calibrated accordingly - and if you've seen versions of these online calling for a quarter-cup of moringa powder, that's an error you'll taste immediately.

Spooky swamp smoothie

Makes 1 large or 2 small

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana (frozen, for thickness)
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 teaspoon moringa powder
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Optional: ½ avocado for a thicker, creamier "slime" texture

Instructions:

1. Blend the almond milk and moringa powder first, so the powder doesn't clump against the frozen fruit.
2. Add the banana, spinach, honey and avocado if using. Blend until completely smooth.
3. Pour into a glass and decorate.

Make it spookier: drizzle the inside of the glass with a little berry purée before pouring so it drips down like something from a laboratory. Top with edible eyeballs, spider sprinkles, or two blueberries pushed into a swirl of yogurt. For a "bubbling cauldron" effect, serve it in a wide bowl-shaped glass with a straw and a couple of frozen berries that fizz to the surface.

Ghoulish green energy balls

Makes about 12

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup almond butter
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tablespoon moringa powder
• ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
• Pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, almond butter, honey, moringa powder and salt. Mix thoroughly - the moringa needs to be evenly distributed or you'll get bitter pockets.
2. Stir in the dark chocolate chips.
3. Chill the mixture for 20 minutes before rolling. Cold dough is far less sticky and holds its shape.
4. Roll into balls about the size of a walnut and set them on a lined baking sheet.
5. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up.

Storage: they keep for a week in an airtight container in the fridge, or three months in the freezer.

Make them spookier: press a single chocolate chip into each ball as a "wart," or roll a few in shredded coconut for a mouldy look. Two mini chocolate chips side by side make convincing eyes.

If the mixture won't hold together: add almond butter a teaspoon at a time. If it's too wet, add oats. Nut butters vary enormously in how loose they are, which is why no fixed ratio works every time.

A few practical notes

• Allergies first. Both recipes contain nuts, and the energy balls contain honey - not suitable for children under one. Swap almond butter for sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version.
• Moringa is heat-sensitive. Neither recipe here is cooked, which is part of why they work so well - the color stays vivid.
• Start small with children. A half-teaspoon in the smoothie is plenty for a first try; the green is dramatic even at that dose.

As always, talk to your healthcare provider before making significant changes to your diet, and check for any allergies or interactions with medications you take.

Now go make something green. Happy Halloween.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.