RECIPE: Chocolate Berry Super Smoothie

I know a lot of people who are extremely into green juices and smoothies. I also know plenty of people who are seriously skeeved out by them. I fall somewhere in between the two: While I appreciate that they’re good for you and an effective way to boost your intake of healthy produce (especially green, leafy vegetables), I don’t find them particularly tasty or satisfying. However, I’m still interested in the idea of blending up a drink that packs in at least a serving of leafy greens—because, honestly, I have a tough time getting enough of them in my diet. I think it has something to do with the fact that they usually need to be chopped and/or cooked or mixed up with other stuff in a salad, which often sounds like too much work.

Anyway, a friend recently forwarded this Choclate-Covered Cherry Smoothie recipe to me and I thought it looked…interesting. I wasn’t really expecting it to taste like chocolate-covered cherries, let alone good, but I had the ingredients handy and it was most definitely Whole Life Challenge compliant. So I figured I’d give it a go and, surprise! It was really, really good! It was so good, in fact, that I made another the next day. Then, the next day, when I ran out of frozen cherries, I decided to make it with frozen blueberries instead—and I liked that even more!

So I contacted the recipe creator, Shannon Huckaby, and asked if she would allow me to share my version here on the blog and she said of course (her exact words may have been slightly different—but the bottom line is that she was excited and happy to share). Therefore, without further ado, I give you this I can’t believe it’s green (and in fact it’s actually brown), nutrient-rich super smoothie. (Note: I prepare mine with homemade almond milk, which I think probably makes it even tastier than it might be with the store-bought variety—but the nutritional information below is based on store-bought almond milk, since homemade almond milk is impossible to accurately analyze. Whew!)

Chocolate Berry Super Smoothie

(printablerecipe)

Serves 1

1 ½ cups almond milk (preferably homemade)

1 cup frozen blueberries

3 Tablespoons cacao powder

3 cups raw baby spinach

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

2. Pour into a glass, drink, and feel the immediate health-boosting goodness take over your very soul!

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per single serving):

208 calories; 8.2 g fat (1.9 g saturated); 330 mg sodium; 32 g carbohydrates; 12 g fiber; 13 g sugar; 7 g protein; Vitamin A 113%; Vitamin C 40%; Calcium 77%; Iron 28%