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Un-Beetable Sugar-Free Smoothie

1 May 2010 11 Comments

Yes, even when the ground has a fresh layer of snow, and the thermometer is stuck on 28º (that is farenheit people, not celcius – wouldn’t it be nice), I still like waking up with a cool breakfast smoothie … followed of course by a hot tea chaser!

The last two mornings I have been experimenting with beets in my smoothies, thanks to Ricki’s inspiration. I tried at first to get all fancy with the ingredients. Beets, berries, romaine, and a host of healthy add-ins. In all honesty, it was okay, but it looked better than it tasted …

(oh my, I didn’t notice until just now that one of the pictures on the wall is crooked!)

So then, I just went back to basics. I should have known my trusty morning banana would be the solution to the perfect wake-up call. My camera was unable to capture the very cool and truly neon-pink color of this beverage. Trust me, it looks and tastes SO good …

Why eat beets? Aside from the taste, the Worlds Healthiest Foods has this to say about them:

“These colorful root vegetables contain powerful nutrient compounds that help protect against heart disease, birth defects and certain cancers, especially colon cancer.”

and this:

“Beets are an excellent source of the B vitamin, folate, and a very good source of manganese and potassium. Beets are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus.”

Combined with the other ingredients, this is dare I say, a delicious Superfood Smoothie!

Un-Beetable Smoothie

I was experimenting with Navitas Pomegranate Power, and I can say it went really well in this smoothie. It adds a tangy sweetness that is delightful. If you don’t have it, try Amazing Grass Berry Superfood, or another berry-inspired powder (protein perhaps?) if you can get your oven mitts on some.

This is one of those great “free-from” foods – no dairy, eggs, sugar, nuts, gluten, etc. – and consequently vegan!

  • 1 Medium-Sized Roasted Beet (see easy roasting instructions below)
  • 1 Medium to Large Banana, broken into chunks and frozen
  • 1/2 to 1 Cup Unsweetened Milk Alternative (I used almond milk, and went on the lesser side of the liquid because I like my smoothies spoonable)
  • 1 Tablespoon Pomegranate Power, Amazing Grass Berry Superfood, Goji Powder, or other berry-like add-in of your choice
  • 1 Tablespoon Ground Flaxseed
  • Optional Add-ins: I just used the ingredients above, but you could also toss in a tablespoon or two of your favorite protein powder, some spinach (can’t taste it!), and/or a little sweetener if this beverage isn’t sweet enough for you (it hit my taste buds just right).

Toss all ingredients in your blender, and blend until smooth. For less powerful blenders, add the roasted beet first (the softer texture will allow your blender to get moving before it hits the frozen stuff).

Yields 1 serving

Easy Roasting Beets for Recipes

I trialed a few different methods, but this one was just perfect. No added fats, and you can roast up a whole bunch to have on hand for salads, smoothies, or even to puree for your baking. Dang, now I want to go buy some more beets!

  • Beets
  • Tinfoil

Preheat your oven to 375ºF.

Cut off the beet stems and leaves, saving them for another use if you wish. Give the beets a washing, but leave the skins on.

Wrap each beet (individually) in tinfoil. Bake/roast for 60 to 90 minutes (depending on the size of your beets – I did 75 for medium-sized beets).

Remove from the oven, but leave them in the tinfoil for a while (no peeking!). I opened one to check for doneness and left it open and the skins were terribly hard to peel off. I actually forgot about the others until about 3 hours later. They were still warm when I opened the packets, and the skins slipped right off. Viola! Fat-free, peeled, roasted beets – recipe ready!

Okay, this isn’t the prettiest pic, but much closer in real life to the vibrant color of that smoothie …

Beets are available year ’round, but it seems we are just entering into peak beet season, which runs from June through October.

See my No Waste Beets for an idea on how to use the leaves and stems too!

Do you have any fabulous beet recipes? Please do tell and feel free to share a link!

Do you find smoothies to be easier on the stomach in the morning or do you prefer them in the afternoon?

11 Comments »

  • 5 Star Foodie said:

    A terrific smoothie with beets! My next 5 star makeover will be on smoothies and shakes 🙂 (announcement coming soon!)

  • Katie said:

    I love to put beets in smoothies and puddings! I usually like the banana spinach combo also, and it is really great with a ton of cinnamon and vanilla in there.

  • Ricki said:

    I just LOVE the color of your smoothie! Yes, no need for all the fancy add-ins if you don’t have to. You can be sure I would have put in a banana if I were allowed to eat them! 🙂

  • Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) said:

    love the BAM red of the beets! and what a pretty, artsy shot. wow girl, this new blog must be inspiring you to pimp up your photog skills b/c the pics just look amazing!

    beets.
    peel them. Dirty job, wear rubber gloves unless u want red cuticles.

    Chop them into chunky pieces, about the size of golf balls, but flat. or whatever works.

    9×13 pan lined with tin foil. then EVOO and S & P, ginger powder if you want, all very liberally (well i dont do salt)
    Coconut oil is fine but doesnt give as good of results.

    Roast with tin foil on top of the pan, too (covered) for about 45 mins at 400F. Then, uncover, flip beets, add more oil if you need, it, and roast another 30 or so. To taste. But this produces the perfect carmelized, firm but tender beet. Mush is not good 🙂 Nor are hard ones.

    I am so picky and this is perfect.

    epic comment 🙂

  • Jody said:

    Looks great.

    To be honest, I don’t bother roasting beets, when I make smoothies with them. They work out fine raw in my Vitamix. I’m curious how they’d do in a regular blender if you chop them up.

  • Cherie said:

    Thanks Alisa for the inspiration to try beets. They look so good! I’m on the ACD right now, so like Ricki, I can’t do the banana, but might try using a frozen avocado? I also loved Averie’s suggestion. I going to roast them with some rutabaga. Enjoy your day everyone!

  • Heather Eats Almond Butter said:

    Looks so pretty Alisa. I love beets, but once tried blending them into oat bran, and it didn’t turn out so good. Maybe a banana would have made it all better. 🙂

  • Lacey Vander Plaats said:

    I am going to try this. I grow my own beats cook them an freeze them and I didn’t even think to do this. Sometimes I put some Avacado i my smoothies and it just makes it so creamy. Give it a try.

  • Joanne said:

    I am only JUST getting into eating beets, but a smoothie as gorgeous as this is something I will definitely have to try! I can’t imagine how it could be bad.

  • Lori said:

    Wow with the beets in the smoothie! Never seen or thought about doing that one before… sounds great though. And not only because beets roasted are delicious!
    🙂

  • saxifrage said:

    Ooh, I so want to try this! It’ll be perfect for my upcoming refined sugar fast; I plan to do a lot of juicing/non-dairy smoothie making. Thank you for sharing!