With the goodness of spinach, avocado, banana, almond butter and spirulina, this smoothie should taste…er healthy. Add a dash of peppermint and a ripple of raw chocolate sauce and this Yum Powered Chocolate Mint Smoothie is not only a healthy and nutritious glass; it’s a cup full of delicious and fun flavours. The kids are going to love this.
I’ve been learning new things week. Firstly, I have exercised my virtually non-existent and long ignored craftsy side and made new photography backgrounds. I don’t art. I can cook, I can photograph but stick figures are the extent of my artistic spectrum. However, with our new get-this-dang-renovation-finished-budget I needed to get creative if I wanted some new props. And can I say, I am a little proud of the outcome. Leftover cement sheets, sample pots of paint, a rendering trough – a “float” if you please, I also learned to render a wall this week – a sponge and vwa-lah, some pretty awesome antique-render looking facades. I didn’t use plaster, just the paint and a bit of imagination.
Secondly, or thirdly if you count the rendering, I am learning a new sport. At forty-one, I have started karate. I am sore in places I didn’t imagine could be sore, but still I go, twice a week to learn and train. I run and am fit, but karate works muscles that haven’t seen the light of day for some time and that includes the one inside my noggin. The focus part of my brain isn’t necessarily my strongest synapses…oh, look a butterfly….
…but karate, I have learned, requires focus. My favourite thing about this class, however, is that it is a testament to everyone’s ability to try something new at any time. I am not the youngest student but I am not the oldest either. The class is a mish-mash of different cultures, ages and circumstances but we are all there to learn, to better ourselves whatever the reason.
I learned this week that it is never too late. For anything. Absolutely, it would be easier to stay within my comfort zone and tread the tides, but I deserve better. So do you.
Okedokee…to the blender.
I have a hard and fast rule in the Goodness Kitchen; if it doesn’t taste good I don’t care how good it is for me, it’s not getting in to my belly. This yum powered chocolate mint smoothie is deliciously good. If you love the taste of mint crisps, you are going to love this. The beauty of it is that you can tweak it to your taste and still get the nutritional benefits. Don’t like mint? OK, firstly, weird, but secondly, simply omit the peppermint and spirulina and replace the almond butter with peanut butter and hello peanut butter chocolate smoothie.
I used spirulina in this shake for its nutritional punch but also the wonderfully vibrant green it lends the smoothie, but if you don’t have it, no matter. Without it, the smoothie will simply look more like a chocolate shake and there is nothing wrong with chocolate. And chocolate that is good for you? Bonus points right there.
This yum powered chocolate mint smoothie appeals to my inner child and while she’s out in the world learning new things and being all brave I figured she deserved a treat. Chocolatey, minty and healthy; well, that seems like a just reward, indeed.
Enjoy.
Yum Powered Chocolate Mint Smooth
Ingredients
- Mint Smoothie
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/2 an avocado
- 1 tablespoon 20ml almond butter
- 1/2 cup packed baby spinach leaves
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup more if you like it sweeter
- 1 teaspoon spirulina or matcha powder this will give you the vibrant green colour
- 1/2 cup 125ml dairy-free milk
- 1 cup 250ml coconut or regular water
- 1 drop good quality peppermint oil or 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract add more or less to tasteChocolate Sauce
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup dairy-free milk
- 2 tablespoons cacao or cocoa
Instructions
- To make the mint smoothie, combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and add more maple syrup or peppermint if needed.
- Place in the fridge while you make the chocolate sauce
- To make the sauce, whisk or stir the ingredients together until there are no lumps.
- To serve the smoothie, pour 1/3 of the mint smoothie in to a jar or glass follow with a thin layer of the chocolate sauce. Go easy with the chocolate, it can throw out the balance. Less is more here.
- Repeat until the jar is full and serve.
Notes
![Autumn arrived today and it is officially soup weather. As a kid my favourite soup was chicken noodle. These days I can still enjoy a bowl minus the bird. This birdless version from my cookbook #greatveganmealsforthecarnivorousfamily uses jackfruit to add texture to the crazily authentic and flavorful broth. Takes me back to my childhood. 💚
4 to 6 servings1 (14-oz [400-g]) can jackfruit
2 tbsp (30 ml) tamari
⅛ tsp white pepper
1 tbsp (10 g) nutritional yeast
2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely sliced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
2 tbsp water plus 2 cups (503 ml) for
the soup broth
Zest of 1 lemon
4 cups (1 L) vegetable stock
Handful (around 3 oz [85 g]) dried
spaghetti, broken
1 cup (30 g) baby spinach, finely
sliced
Good pinch sea saltDrain and rinse the jackfruit and cut each one into thin slices from the longest point of the triangle. Put the sliced jackfruit in a bowl with the tamari, white
pepper and nutritional yeast and stir to combine. Set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the olive oil to a large soup pot or saucepan and heat over low heat. Add the garlic, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves and thyme and
saut. for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of water. Cook
covered, for around 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, add
the second tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat.
Add the jackfruit and sauté for 5 minutes, pulling it apart gently with a fork as you
cook. Stir the shredded jackfruit into the vegetables, add the lemon zest, stock and
remaining water, and bring the soup up to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for
20 minutes. Add the broken spaghetti, cooking for another 7 minutes. Remove the
bay leaves and thyme, stir in the baby spinach and season with sea salt. #letscookvegan #fromscratch #foodstyling #meatlessmonday #makeitdelicious #tastingtable #eatplants #worldwideveganfood #goop #thecookfeed](http://scontent-mia3-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/855595f9d6450edef85083e895962529/5D3297E8/t51.2885-15/e35/s320x320/53425017_2026465847655903_4310692797615736546_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-2.cdninstagram.com "Autumn arrived today and it is officially soup weather. As a kid my favourite soup was chicken noodle. These days I can still enjoy a bowl minus the bird. This birdless version from my cookbook #greatveganmealsforthecarnivorousfamily uses jackfruit to add texture to the crazily authentic and flavorful broth. Takes me back to my childhood. 💚
4 to 6 servings1 (14-oz [400-g]) can jackfruit
2 tbsp (30 ml) tamari
⅛ tsp white pepper
1 tbsp (10 g) nutritional yeast
2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely sliced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
2 tbsp water plus 2 cups (503 ml) for
the soup broth
Zest of 1 lemon
4 cups (1 L) vegetable stock
Handful (around 3 oz [85 g]) dried
spaghetti, broken
1 cup (30 g) baby spinach, finely
sliced
Good pinch sea saltDrain and rinse the jackfruit and cut each one into thin slices from the longest point of the triangle. Put the sliced jackfruit in a bowl with the tamari, white
pepper and nutritional yeast and stir to combine. Set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the olive oil to a large soup pot or saucepan and heat over low heat. Add the garlic, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves and thyme and
saut. for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of water. Cook
covered, for around 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, add
the second tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat.
Add the jackfruit and sauté for 5 minutes, pulling it apart gently with a fork as you
cook. Stir the shredded jackfruit into the vegetables, add the lemon zest, stock and
remaining water, and bring the soup up to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for
20 minutes. Add the broken spaghetti, cooking for another 7 minutes. Remove the
bay leaves and thyme, stir in the baby spinach and season with sea salt. #letscookvegan #fromscratch #foodstyling #meatlessmonday #makeitdelicious #tastingtable #eatplants #worldwideveganfood #goop #thecookfeed")
