Chunky Monkey Smoothie

As much as I love food, cooking was never my forte.  My mom and I would bake, which was always super fun and much easier for me to help with as a little person … but cooking didn’t enter my world until college, and let’s face it, some of you know that I existed exclusively on Snickers ice cream bars for breakfast during that first year anyhow :P. 

Eventually, the novelty of Snickers and grilled cheese does wear off, and I was left in the kitchen with limited cooking tools and even less knowledge.  I learned to “cook” in stages: Lean Cuisine -> Prego spaghetti -> BBQ anything -> chicken in endless forms.  I attribute my new love of true cooking to a few things.  1) The women in my life are tremendous cooks.  My mom and sister definitely have the knack for it and my mother-in-law and new sisters can turn a seemingly empty pantry into a four-course meal; it’s magic really!  2) Moving towards a plant-based diet really does open more doors than it closes in terms of variety and flavor.  Between my mom’s tried and true recipes, and my MIL’s expertise with ingredients, I’m thankful to say that my confidence in the kitchen is (slowly) inflating.  Veganism just adds an extra challenge - which I love.

Before you have confidence though … you sometimes have smoothies.  They’re easy, quick, you can take them on the go; they’re basically my tasty vegan alternative to the Snickers habit that I just had to kick (I still think of them fondly).  Here is my favorite everyday smoothie recipe to try!

Ingredients:

• 1 overripe frozen banana, sliced into rounds
• 3-4 ice cubes
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (the type used for baking)
• 3 tbsp hemp seeds (optional for added protein/texture/taste)
• 1 tbsp nut butter of your choice (chunky peanut butter is my fave)
• Almond milk (enough to cover all ingredients)

How To Prepare:

• I use the Magic Bullet but any blender will do just fine.
• Add ingredients to bullet/blender in the order shown above.
• Pulse the mixture to break up the bananas and ice cubes a bit.
• Continue blending on low until smooth – the finished product should look a bit like a thick chocolate milk shake.

Tips:

• Overripe bananas are best because they add plenty of natural sweetener.  If you have an exceptionally demanding sweet tooth, I’d add a little agave to taste ;).
• Frozen bananas are better than fresh, mainly for thickness and texture.  To prepare ahead for my smoothies, I buy lots of bananas and let them get nice and spotted … then I peel and slice each one into rounds, storing in Tupperware in the freezer until I need them.
• If you find that your smoothie is too thick, just add more liquid.  Add less if the smoothie is too “milky.”
• The great part about smoothies is that every recipe is just a base – you can experiment with different ingredients based on preferences and allergies, and almost every combo can be a success with a little tweaking.