My friend Alex sent me an email a few weeks ago with the subject line: “new obsession”.  Alex and I have very similar tastes in food and she is also not one for melodrama, so I knew this was an email I was interested in reading.  She proceeded to write: ” I have a new obsession.  Full out obsession” with the recipe for a delicious-sounding “Turmeric Tea.”  Thank you, Alex!  Right up my alley.  Print!

I don’t know what has taken me so long to wind down an evening, any evening, with a cup of warm, anti-inflammatory turmeric tea or latte.  It’s everything I love — soothing, nourishing, delicious and might even help me sleep better to boot.  The same day I received Alex’s email, a text came through from another girlfriend, whose husband was instructed to follow and anti-inflammatory diet.  “Can you tell me what foods are anti-inflammatory?  Need to get on this pronto!”  First thing I wrote back was … turmeric.

I love turmeric in curries, stews, juices and I even add it to my homemade taco seasoning.  Because turmeric runs bright, flaming yellow, I also use it in place of saffron sometimes (like in Mediterranean fish stew and paella.)  It is truly one of the most healing, powerful foods on earth.  I already mentioned turmeric’s anti-inflammatory properties, but it is also an antioxidant, wound healer, digestive stimulant, liver detoxifier, helps to lower cholesterol, and has a warming thermal nature.  I use fresh turmeric in juices, and ground in everything else for practical reasons.  Turmeric has a very distinct, but mild flavor.  Since it is related to ginger, it does have a faint hint of ginger, but also a bitter, tart, chalkiness, too.  A little is nice, but a lot can be offensive.  It also stains like crazy — from clothing to countertops — so be careful!

Since Alex’s email, I have made this beverage many, many times and guess what?  I’m OBSESSED!  It’s my new favorite drink, just in time for winter when I don’t really drink cooling juices as much.  However I’m calling this a Turmeric Latte, since the base of it is milk.  I use almond milk, because it’s my go-to and I always have homemade on hand.  Of course you can use regular milk or your favorite alternative milk, or a combo of milks.  I recently started playing around with adding a little cashew milk to almond to add a thick, creamy richness.  More on that another time!

This turmeric latte is beyond delightful and the perfect way to settle into a restful evening.  It is also quite easy to prepare and you might even have all the ingredients on hand.  I would start with the basic recipe below and then change it to suit your taste/needs.  For example, it would be perfectly easy to use a few drops of stevia to sweeten instead of the maple syrup.  Or a couple pinches of ground ginger instead of fresh.  If you love turmeric, feel free to add more.

As we near the end of 2014, I know many of you have resolutions of better health and adopting new habits on the brain.  I hope this post catches you in time, as I think drinking a turmeric latte a few times a week is a resolution I can stick to.  How about you?