I was already a smoothie fanatic before I bought the Vitamix. I had a Magic Bullet; it lasted me for years. I loved it. I used it almost daily. It even did an okay job with spinach. Kale? Don’t even try. By year five [I think], it was finally starting to die, and an Amazon gift card was begging to be spent. Voila, Vitamix. Now that I have it, it just gives me even more reason to make smoothies [or soups or almond milk or…].

I’ve been trying a new smoothie recipe almost every week. There are virtually endless combinations, some much better than others. Last week was a chocolate cake batter smoothie that was super bright green from spinach, but you couldn’t taste it at all. It was glorious. This week, it’s beets and blueberries. It’s perfect timing since I finished off the protein powder, and have been reluctant to buy more. It’s not that I don’t like it—I do. I just figure I can probably find smoothies with staying power without feeling tied to the powder.

I don’t think beets are going to work well in anything but a super strong blender. I was honestly a little skeptical when I put it in the Vitamix. I was happily proven wrong. I’ve seen many recipes where you steam the beets first. I think that’s a brilliant idea. You should try it. Don’t forget that consuming beets makes your bathroom trips a little interesting. I seriously thought something was wrong with me the first time, forgetting that they had that effect.

Feel free to use any milk you want. I’ve been rocking the 365 Everyday Value Rice Milk from Whole Foods lately. 6 grams of fiber and really reasonably priced.

Inspiration: Whole Living

Ingredients

1 beet, chopped

1/2 cup blueberries

1 large handful of spinach

1 cup milk

1 cup water

1/4 cup cashews

1/4 cup rolled oats

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

1-2 packets of stevia [or sweetener of choice]

4-5 ice cubes

Preparation

If you remember, soak the oats and cashews in the milk and water the night before. It’ll make it that much more creamy. Put all items in the blender. Blend. Makes one really large smoothie or two normal sized ones.