Happy October! This month is characterized by crisp air, cooling temps, changing colors and happy hearts. It also marks the beginning of peak apple picking season and, lest we forget, pumpkin spice everything!
Always a bit of a rebel, I’m skipping the pumpkin patch and going tuber on all of you who are craving fall flavors and sweet treats but hoping to stay as healthy as possible before the holidays set in. Sweet potatoes, my favorite tuber, are a root vegetable which swells underground to store more nutrients to survive the cold, dry winter months and to provide energy for regrowth. Sweet potatoes literally swell with nutrients like beta-carotene which the body converts into vitamin A (retinol) and give these tubers their orange hue. We need vitamin A for healthy skin and eyes and to reinforce our immune system. Sweet potatoes are also loaded with vitamin C–a boost we all need this flu season–and several B vitamins.
Go on now, put down the pumpkin spice latte and try this fun Sweet Potato Spice Smoothie, bursting with fall flavors and the fuel you need to fortify your body before hibernation season hits.
Sweet Potato Spice Smoothie
{serves 2}
What You’ll Need:
- ¾ cup sweet potato purée (canned)
- ¼ cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
- 8 oz unsweetened almond milk (or use hemp, coconut or rice milk)
- 4 oz apple cider
- 1 Tbs maple syrup (optional)
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp (or “a dash”) ground cloves
- 1” fresh ginger, peeled
- ½ tspn vanilla extract
- ½ cup ice
- 2 Tbs chia seeds
How to Make It:
- Blend all ingredients except the chia seeds in a high speed blender until smooth.
- Add more ice to thicken, or almond milk to thin out as desired.
- Split into two portions and stir one tablespoon of chia seeds into each glass.
If you love this, try using the more conventional smoothie ingredient, pumpkin purée, or the less conventional but still delicious ingredient, butternut squash purée, instead. It’ll change the taste a touch but still be packed with immunity-boosting vitamins A and C. Bon apetit!
{Originally published on the Relay Foods blog, October 19, 2014.}