So I’ve already taught you how to drink black beans and cucumbers. Next up? Beets. Enter this gloriously hued, brightly flavored strawberry beet smoothie. Do I qualify as a full-fledged weirdo yet?
There was a time when green smoothies sounded weird and excessively healthy to my ear, but now that I’m fully immersed in smoothie culture, I’m well aware that just because you added a handful of spinach to what is, in essence, a milkshake, doesn’t mean you’ve made some sort of cancer-curing elixir. I love adding greens to smoothies as much as the next blogger, but a handful of spinach will turn just about any pale-colored mixture neon green, and just isn’t going to have that much of an effect on the nutritional content of your drink.
If I may be frank: green smoothies are pedestrian. If that isn’t a cutting insult, y’all, I don’t know what is!
So I get really excited about smoothies that involve vegetables beyond greens. I love smoothies that incorporate carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, cucumber, and even broccoli. (Okay, maybe I’ve gone off the deep end a little bit!) I’m not going to lie to you; if you don’t already like beets, you are not going to like this smoothie. But if you do, you’re in for a real treat! I’m especially excited about this smoothie because it uses the whole beet, greens and all. It’s earthy and sweet and packed with all kinds of nutrients, and can totally pull its weight as a light lunch.
- 1 c unsweetened plant milk
- 1 large beet, cooked, chilled, and roughly chopped (~3/4 c)
- ¾ c frozen strawberries
- ¾ c beet greens
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- splash vanilla extract
- 2-4 drops stevia, optional
- handful of ice
- If not using a high speed blender, chop beet, strawberries, and greens well.
- Blend all ingredients until smooth.
5 comments
lysette says:
Sep 18, 2014
Weirdo? Yes, but you’re in good company 😉
There’s a great scene in Paul Verhoeven’s ‘Turkish Delight’ where the girlfriend is sitting on the toilet crying “I’m dying, I’m dying” and the boyfriend -Rutger Hauer- cradles her then says “No,you’re not dying, you ate beets last night.” Oops, total spoiler alert! Great movie and great sounding smoothie!
claryn says:
Sep 19, 2014
Hahaha! True story. I always have to remind myself the day after I’ve eaten some that I am not, in fact, bleeding internally. 😉
Allison says:
Nov 5, 2014
I always throw beets into my juicer and add the juice to my smoothies, never thought to cook and blend the whole thing! A must try tomorrow morning. Or for a late evening snack? 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration!
Lulu says:
Jan 3, 2015
From one weirdo to another-You rock girl!! Love it!
C. FRUITY says:
Jan 26, 2015
I love the color of this smoothie!