Ingredients
Scale
For the smoothie
- ½ medium beet, sliced into quarters
- 2 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
- 4 dates, pitted
- ¼ cup hemp seeds
- 1 cup almond milk
For the blue swirl
- ¼ tsp. spirulina powder
- 1 banana, frozen
- 2 Tbsp. almond milk
For the whipped coconut topping
- 1 can coconut milk (refrigerated 8 hours or overnight)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. freeze dried strawberries, crushed into a fine powder*
Instructions
- Fill a stock pot with a few inches of water and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Fit the pot with a steamer basket and arrange the beet slices in a single layer. Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the beets are fork tender. Set beets aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, make the blue swirl by combining the spirulina powder, banana, and 2 tablespoons of almond milk in a blender. Blend until smooth, adding a touch more almond milk as necessary to keep things moving. The result should be thick, like the texture of soft serve ice cream. Scrape the banana mixture into a plastic bag (I used a snack sized Ziplock bag), seal, and put it in the refrigerator to stay cold while you make the smoothie. Rinse out your blender.
- When the beets are cool enough to handle, gently peel off the skin and discard. Add the beets to your blender along with the strawberries, raspberries, dates, hemp seeds, and almond milk. If you used fresh berries, throw a few ice cubes in the blender, too. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- To make the coconut whipped topping, open your refrigerated can of coconut milk from the bottom. Scoop the solid stuff into a medium mixing bowl, leaving the liquid in the can. Add the vanilla to the bowl and use a hand mixer whip until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the coconut whipped topping to a plastic bag (I used a quart sized freezer Ziplock bag) and seal the top.
- Snip a small hole in one of the bottom corners of the bag with the blue banana mixture. Hold a drinking glass in one hand and use your other hand to gently squeeze some of the mixture on the inside walls of the glass. Then pour in the pink beet mixture and fill the glass to the top. Use a spoon or straw to swirl the blue mixture around.
- Snip a slightly larger hole in a corner of the bag with the coconut whipped topping. Using a circular motion, swirl it on top of the smoothie. Dust with the crushed freeze dried strawberries and serve chilled.