Healthy chocolate smoothie

Happy New Year, Hipcooks! Do you have resolutions for good health this year? Or a sober January? You can be well-behaved and sneak a treat with our Healthy chocolate smoothie.

The health benefits of raw cacao are fantastic: it gives energy, improves memory, reduces heart disease, sheds fat, increases immunity, and boosts your bliss!

This healthy chocolate smoothie will keep you feeling full and satisfied for quite a while. It’s thick, protein-rich and creamy from cashews. It’s sweetened with blackberry and vanilla. A touch of mint keeps you zingy and fresh. Because we love to garnish a smoothie, we put some healthy cacao nibs on top to crunch on.

Of course, there are tons of variations to keep things interesting . . . and that’s what helps us keep our resolutions, isn’t it? The same ol’ thing every day would be boring. Honor yourself and your commitment by indulging with a quick, healthy “treat,” but keeping it new and exciting each time. With a base of the nuts and cacao, you can “mix it up” by:

1. Swapping out a banana for sweetness. Add spices: cinnamon, vanilla, a dash of cayenne and you’ve got a Mexican hot chocolate healthy smoothie. We like to let the Vitamix run on high for several minutes when we make this variation: the friction of the blade will heat up the smoothie until warm. Warm-smoothie indulgence, hooray!
2. Toss in an orange: peel, pith and all, for a healthy orange chocolate smoothie (because chocolate and orange are a match made in heaven.
3. Add a big handful of greens. Spinach, kale…any dark leavy green will do. If it’s a challenge for you to get your greens in each day, then smuggling them in a smoothie with a bunch of cacao and a sweet banana will be easy.
4. Are you dragging today? Add a shot of espresso for a pick-me-up. You’ll see it melds beautifully with the other flavors in the smoothie.

Hungry for more Health?

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Healthy chocolate smoothie

Monika Happy New Year, Hipcooks! Do you have resolutions for good health this year? Or a sober January? You can be well-behaved and sneak a treat with our Healthy chocolate smoothie. The health benefits of raw cacao are fantastic: it gives energy,… Beverages Healthy chocolate smoothie, smoothie ideas European Print Recipe

 : 2 Prep Time: 5 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

1 cup raw, unsalted cashews
2 cups water
3 heaping teaspoons cacao
a handful of blackberries (about ¾ cup)
a dash of vanilla bean paste
a few mint leaves
garnish: cacao nibs, blackberries and mint

Instructions

Soak the cashews in the water for at least 15 minutes (or overnight) before blending. You can do this right in the blender base if you like.

Add the cacao, blackberries, vanilla bean paste and mint to the blender and whizz away. Give it a taste and adjust the flavors if you need to: the blackberries make it sweet, the mint adds a little zing.

Serve garnished with cacao nibs, a blackberry or two, and a sprig of mint.

Get health-inspired all season long with these fresh smoothie ideas. Cheers to you!