Berry & Beet Smoothies

Let’s be honest for a moment. The color of these smoothies is equal parts awesome and kind of freaky, right?

Freaky because it’s so bright and candy-colored that it’s a hue I would normally associate with artificial coloring. Awesome, because it’s 100% natural!

Beets are not only one of my favorite foods, but they are one of nature’s best natural food colorings (they’re even the secret ingredient in my Halloween brownies).

I’ve used beet juice to dye Easter eggs and add a boost of red color to a red velvet cake.

And since the brighter and more fun-looking a smoothie is, the more likely I am to want to drink it, I’ve been using beets in my smoothies lately, too!

I’m sharing one of my favorite (bright and cheerful!) smoothies today. If you have five minutes and a good blender, you can whip up these Berry & Beet Smoothies quickly.

Simply blend together half of a beet, a banana, some raspberries, a touch of lime juice and honey, and some lowfat vanilla yogurt and milk for added protein and calcium. Blend in some ice at the end to keep it nice and frosty!

Psst – if you love brightly colored smoothies, my blueberry lemon smoothie is also bright purple, thanks to blueberries!

Yield: 2 (10 ounce) smoothies

Berry & Beet Smoothies

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Prep Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana, peeled
• 1/2 medium beet, peeled
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1/2 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 3/4 cup ice

Instructions

1. In blender, combine banana, beet, raspberries, yogurt, milk, honey and lime juice; blend until smooth. Add ice and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.