Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie

As you know, we grew mint this year.  In fact, had I not asked everyone on Facebook and Twitter whether or not we should put our mint in a pot, and had everyone not warned us that it would grow like crazy, we'd probably have a backyard taken over by mint.  At this point in the summer our mint is no longer thriving (I think we got too much rain), but a few weeks ago, when it was, I made mint chocolate chip ice cream and this mint chocolate chip smoothie (after all, mint and chocolate is my second favorite flavor combination, other than peanut butter and chocolate.).

I put my smoothies in a martini glass because I'm cool like that.  Just accept it.  Yes, this is a virgin smoothie.

Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie

Serves 1

Ingredients

2 Tbsp chia

1-cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 Tbsp. chopped dark chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup loosely packed fresh mint

1/4 cup chopped ice (optional, but I like my smoothies cold!)

4-6 drops liquid Stevia

Directions

1.  Mix the chia and almond milk in a small bowl, and allow to form into a gel in the fridge.  This should take ~40 minutes.  Be sure to stir every 10-15 minutes.

2.  Mix all the remaining ingredients in a blender or Magic Bullet, from the chocolate chips through the Stevia drops.

3.  After blending the ingredients, add the chia gel and stir until well incorporated (you may also wish to add everything together in a blender and just pulse a couple times).  Garnish with a few extra chocolate chips and some mint if you wish.

**NOTE:  If you are following a low FODMAPS diet you will be happy to know that this is low FODMAPs!

This was just so refreshing out on my back porch one 90-degree day.  I sipped on this for about 30 minutes, and then came in to find chocolate all over my face. It was glorious.

Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1 smoothie
Source: CalorieCount.com

Nutrition Highlights: ~5 grams plant-based omega-3 (from the chia seeds), excellent source of fiber (whoa!), vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and calcium.

Question:  What's your favorite sweet or savory combination of flavors?  I've told you my two favorites; chocolate and peanut butter, and chocolate and mint.  But then there is also ketchup and mustard (Nick thinks I'm crazy to combine the two condiments on things like hotdogs. But I think he's crazy for not combining!).

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

Need More Fiber? Enter the Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Summer Smoothie!

It took me a while to get on the chia bandwagon, but now I'm here to stay.  The New York Times Well Blog recently highlighted chia in an article, and posted some great recipes to share with their readers.  Today I'm sharing how I have recently been including chia in my own diet.  First, I've been adding it to my Greek yogurt breakfast in the morning (it's pretty cool, until they get stuck in your teeth, be sure to always check your teeth in a mirror after eating and before leaving for work!) and second I've been adding them to smoothies, as you'll see below.  Third? Granola.  That chia recipe will be shared next week.

Create a chia gel by adding 2T chia seeds to 1 cup water, and allowing to sit for 15-30 minutes.  Be sure to stir about 2-3 times during that time, so the chia seeds don't clump together.  You can also add the seeds to a flavored water or juice.  Then, add your gel to smoothies or soups, or even Greek yogurt.

So what are the benefits of chia?  Here are a few;

• They expand in water to form a gel, therefore theoretically aiding in their satiety effect (since they expand in your stomach and sort of slow down digestion by creating a viscous gel, and also making you feel like you ate more than you did!)

• In 2 Tbsp they provide;
• An excellent source of plant based ALA omega-3 (~2.5 grams!) ** It is recommended that you get ~1.6 grams a day **
• 3 grams of protein (complete!)
• 6 grams fiber (excellent source)
• 10% DV calcium and 8% DV iron

Strawberry Basil Summer Smoothie

Serves 1 (makes ~1.5 cups)

Ingredients

3 large frozen strawberries

1 small frozen banana (slice the banana and put on foil to freeze)

1/4 cup fresh pineapple (or canned, but strained well)

1/4 cup chopped basil

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Chia Gel (see below)

Create a chia gel by adding 2T chia seeds to 1 cup almond milk, and allowing to sit for 15-30 minutes.  Be sure to stir about 2-3 times during that time, so the chia seeds don't clump together.  

Directions

Combine everything but the chia gel and blend until smooth.  Mix in the chia gel until incorporated well.  Enjoy!

NOTE:  This is a low FODMAPs recipe.  While almonds should be eaten in limited quantities on a low FODMAPs diet, almond milk is mainly water so it should be tolerated well.

Estimated Nutrition Facts
Source: CalorieCount.com

Nutrition Highlights:  2.5 grams omega-3 (a day's worth of plant-based ALA Omega-3!), excellent source of fiber, calcium and vitamin C, good source of vitamin A, iron, and protein

And, it's pretty, no?  Nick took one look at this and said "I'm not eating that".  Come on, just because it's got green specks doesn't mean it's going to taste like a salad.  I thought this was the perfect summer smoothie, and thanks to the chia gel it was was filling, very filling.

QUESTION:  Have you ever made a chia gel? What do you do with yours?? I've seen recipes for chia gel soups too.  I think that may have to be a winter experiment.

I hope you had a nice weekend.  Did you hear, I got to meet Alton Brown yesterday!? Yeah, I will probably talk about the experience for the rest of my life.  He made an Asian-inspired low country boil for us. Pretty amazing.  Now I have to go back to work and just have a normal day. What's that all about?!  Oh well, I'll make it special somehow.

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd