Smooth. Thick. Creamy. You were thinking of a smoothie, right? Now that I have your attention, get your head out of the gutter and let’s get serious. Having a good smoothie is a rare and beautiful thing. And when it does occur, we typically give out a pained sigh as we hand over a day’s worth of food money for 16oz of liquid. But we love them, crave them, and heck, who doesn’t love an Instagram of our healthy lifestyles. That burger and fries yesterday doesn’t count because I posted about a smoothie today, right?
I don’t know about you, but I feel I never put enough vegetables in my smoothies. If I wanted a green juice, I would just get that and, as a result, slowly sip on 10-dollar dirt. But, I also don’t want a huge sugar rush (Jamba Juice I am looking at you). So what’s a girl to do?! How can I get those vitamins and the nutrients without breaking the bank and without torturing my taste buds?
I give you: cauliflower. It’s the new banana but with a less tarnished reputation. I don’t understand the hate towards a banana, but in LA it’s apparently a junk food… so I’ll just leave it at that.
Cauliflower is a low-sugar alternative for smoothies. Acai is great and all, but let’s be honest with ourselves, it’s packed with sugar. Not that all sugar is bad (so don’t’ come knocking on my door with that one), but one acai bowl averages around 33 grams of sugar per serving. Sugar is carbs and carbs need insulin, thus your pancreas has to work harder and give your more insulin which then can lead to weight gain because hormones. Yay. Have it when you want, but don’t have one every day is what I’m saying. Cool? Cool.
ANYWAY, back to our dear Cauliflower. It can hugely up the health benefits in your already complex, but I’m sure fantastic, smoothie game. It’s loaded with Vitamin C, Vitamin K, folate, and since it comes from the family that brings us kale (oh em gee) it contains glucosinolates, which can protect against multiple types of cancer. So, it’s pretty fetch.
When you get your cauliflower, most of the food blogger homies recommend chopping it into florets, steaming it, laying it out on a baking tray to cool COMPLETELY, and then freeze it until you’re ready to make your smoothie. Trust me, this can turn your smoothie into a thick, creamy glass of “ohhhhhhh yes.” Below, I have a Rachel Mansfield’s (@rachlmansfield) Coconutty Fig smoothie recipe that is stomach and Instagram approved
Coconutty Fig Smoothie
- Prep Time:3 mins
- Cook Time:2 mins
- Total Time:5 mins
- Servings:1
- Easy
- 1 cup cauliflower
- 2 large spoonfuls coconut butter
- 1 fresh fig
- 1 tablespoon flaxseeds
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- dash cinnamon
- 1/3 cup milk your choice coconut milk would be best – she made coconut collagen milk
- topped with a few fig slices grain-free granola and coconut flakes
Ingredients
I love smoothies, I think they are a fantastic source of quick nutrients, and I think people can get caught up and think it’s either too much time or money to make one. But, really, it’s simple if you plan ahead and take those 30 seconds to blend up that morning good good.