Since my recent post on smoothies, many folks have continued to ask me for ideas on different combinations of veggies and fruits that I use. And so I thought of creating a new post for every smoothie that turns out to be really spectacular! When it comes to food (and drinks), I always love to experiment! That breaks up the monotony – of both – the task of cooking/making it as well as eating/drinking it! So every morning as I slide into my kitchen and get the blender out, I mentally survey all the fresh fruits I have on hand and the ones in the freezer and go about trying new combinations. One thing I like to do is to pair fruits with similar colors together – this gives a great color impact. And that’s what I decided to do the other morning. I have also decided to make it a point to add at least one vegetable to my morning smoothie so that it becomes extra nutritious!
So I decided to go with carrots this time. Papayas seem to be a perfect pairing with the carrots in terms of the color. And then banana and avocado for the creaminess! Yum. As I started making it, I thought of ‘Carrot cake’ and so decided to add some spice to it – a bit of fresh ginger and then pumpkin spice! I also had a bot of coconut cream left so I added that too towards the end but even without that the smoothie came out absolutely delicious! Such a beautiful and colorful way to start the day 🙂
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 cup ripe papaya, chopped
- ½ of a ripe avocado
- ½ of a banana
- about a ½ inch by ½ inch piece of fresh ginger (or 1 tsp dry ginger powder)
- ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice (For AIP, use ¼ tsp ground cinnamon and a pinch of ground clove)
- 2 tbsp collagen peptides (optional, omit for vegan)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp coconut milk (or coconut cream) - optional
- Place all the ingredients in a high power blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into a tall serving glass.
I didn’t have papaya and I only use 1/2 tsp of dry ginger, but this was sooo good! I love it!😍😍 Thank you for the recipe!
[…] Carrot Cake Smoothie from Cook 2 Nourish […]
This looks so healthy and delicious! Love the idea of adding pumpkin spice.
yes I like pumpkin spice so much that I put it in a lot of recipes 🙂