When I was at my last college reunion, some friends and I found a nice smoothie shop off Duke’s East campus called Happy and Hale. At first, I thought perhaps Hale was the owner’s name. It is, in fact, a word whose definition is: “free from defect, disease, or infirmity: retaining exceptional health and vigor.” They had a chocolate almond milk, almond butter, coffee ground smoothie that was so good. This recipe is based on that smoothie I had, but has various nutrient dense foods in it.
I found organic chocolate almond milk at Whole Foods (360 brand). I use green organic bananas when I can get them because they are higher in resistant starch and lower in sugar vs. yellow bananas.
Soak the chia seeds in the almond milk overnight if you remember.
This version is not very sweet and is a bit tart with the kefir, green banana and blueberries. I adjust the sweetness with packets of stevia. If you need help finding a good stevia brand, I wrote this article. If you use a berry-flavored kefir, then they are typically sweetened, so keep this in mind. If you’re not into stevia, you can use dark maple syrup, which has more nutrients than light maple syrup.
I use a raw egg in this smoothie. The egg is “beyond organic” from Polyface Farm or from a farmer that follows the Polyface method. This means, I don’t have to worry about Salmonella.
If you have a grinder, you may like to use the coffee grinds if they are ground finely. Alternatively, you could use a shot of espresso. Use organic coffee, as non-organic coffee is laced with bad chemicals. Bon appétit!
Ingredients:
1 cup organic chocolate almond milk,
1 organic banana,
1/3 cup almond butter,
1/3 cup organic blueberries
1/4 cup chia seeds (soaked in almond milk water overnight)
1/2 oz. organic kale microgreens or broccoli sprouts
1 cup organic kefir
1 handful of ice
2-3 packets of stevia
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1 organic, free range local raw egg (optional)
1 tsp finely ground organic coffee (optional)
protein powder (optional)
2 Comment
Most of us do not have access to guaranteed salmonella free eggs so I always include 2 soft to hard cooked eggs per person in my smoothies rather than raw. I don’t taste them in the smoothie is case you are wondering. I do have a Vitamix so there are no traces of egg in the finished smoothie.
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BrocElite replied:
This is a great hack! Thanks for sharing. Sent from my iPhone
Why does chia need to be soaked? What are the benefits vs non soaked?
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BrocElite replied:
Chia seeds absorb up to 12x their weight in water. Soaking them allows them to absorb water which then hydrates you. If you eat dry chia seeds, they will need to absorb that water from your body which will dehydrate you. Soaked chia seeds are easier to digest due to the softened outer layer, and they also release nutrients more effectively.