Thursday, April 18, 2013

Healthy Red Velvet Cheesecake Smoothie


What? NOT another smoothie! 
Is she on a smoothie marathon or something? 

Well, don't worry. The next one will be a NON-smoothie recipe. It's just I couldn't resist it when I came across it online. 

HEALTHY RED VELVET CHEESECAKE SMOOTHIE

Could it be possible? It looked so promising and tempting!
Plus it's all natural.


The secret to this deep dramatic color is beets. And the cheesecake part? That's where the cottage cheese comes in. Definitely healthier than that cute little cupcake.


HEALTHY RED VELVET CHEESECAKE SMOOTHIE 

1/2 cup - 3/4 cup cooked or canned beets, chopped and frozen
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk / almond milk
2-3 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp honey (add more or less depending on how sweet you like it)

Blend all ingredients together until nice, thick and smooth. (Add a little more milk a teaspoon at a time if the smoothie is too thick to keep things moving when you blend it.)

The Truth:
It was a rich, thick and creamy smoothie with that slight cocoa flavor. Except for one BIG problem I had with it - I just couldn't get over the BEET taste. I added all 3/4 cups of beets. It was... let's just say, if I had ordered that in a restaurant, that will be the first AND LAST time. 

If you love beets, then go for it.  I would suggest that you start with half a cup and taste it. If it tastes all right, but you want it a deeper red color, then you can add a few drops of red food color to the smoothie. Otherwise you add other red fruits like strawberries or raspberries. The taste will also be different then. Maybe also throw in 1/3 of a banana. It might taste better.