Heart Healthy Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

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Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Number of Servings 2

This chocolate cherry smoothie not only tastes delicious, but it's quick to make and provides 3 servings of vegetables and fruits, and is high in fiber.

 We've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And yes, it IS important, especially for kids. When I was working as an outpatient diet, it was more common for my clients to skip breakfast than to eat it. When I would ask why they didn't eat breakfast, lack of time was a very common response.

And it's definitely a valid point. Mornings are often rushed, and it's unlikely we're going to skip any of our other morning routine steps before heading to work (shower? getting dressed? brushing teeth? I don't think so) when we're running out of time. This is where smoothies can come into play.

 As long as you have the ingredients ready, smoothies are super quick to make, and you can drink them on the go. Some smoothies (especially the ones you can buy) are less than healthy. They might be loaded with fat and/or sugar and very likely high in calories. Plus, those smoothies you can buy are expensive. 

How to Make Chocolate Cherry Smoothie:

The ingredients in this delicious chocolate cherry smoothie are pretty standard for a healthy smoothie. Frozen cherries (I got mine in a large bag from Costco), cocoa powder, Greek yogurt, ground flaxseeds, kale (or you can use spinach instead), and kefir. 

Have you tried kefir? It's a  fermented milk product that originated in Eastern Europe. The easiest way to describe it is as being like drinkable yogurt, but sometimes it's slightly fizzy.

Just like yogurt, it's low in lactose and high in probiotics (those good bacteria that can help your digestive tract among other things). However, it is made in a slightly different way than yogurt, so it may be slightly carbonated and a teeny tiny bit alcoholic (it uses yeast to be fermented, just like beer).

Kefir can be found in bottles near the yogurt, often available in various flavors. If you can't find kefir, just use milk instead (or your favorite non-dairy milk).

Once you have gathered all your ingredients, all you have to do is toss them into a blender and blend until smooth. You can also do it with an immersion blender, which is what I use, if you're just making a single serving. Just make sure that you don't put the cocoa at the bottom, or it will get stuck there and won't blend.

Once it's all blended up, you just taste the chocolate and cherries. You won't even notice the kale. I promise.

If you know you're going to be short on time in the morning, you could pre-measure your ingredients and keep them in the fridge. Just take the cherries out of the freezer in the morning and blend it all up. Then pour it into a to-go up and sip all the way to work.

I call this particular smoothie heart healthy because of all the nutrients it has - antioxidants from the cherries and cocoa, omega 3 fats from the flaxseed, calcium from the kefir (or milk) and yogurt, and fiber from the cherries, kale, and flaxseed. All of these things can have benefits on cholesterol and/or blood pressure, thus can be termed heart healthy.

Want more cherry recipes?

Chocolate Cherry Smoothie Nutrition Notes:

The nutrition information in the recipe below is for half of the recipe. If you decide to have the whole recipe yourself, make sure to double all of the numbers you see. The nutrition information does not include any optional sweetener.

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Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

Carissa Serink

This chocolate cherry smoothie not only tastes delicious, but it's quick to make and provides 3 servings of vegetables and fruits, and is high in fiber.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Calories: 181kcal

Cook ModeKeep your screen on

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen cherries
• ½ cup chopped kale stalks removed and torn up (or replace with spinach)
• 2 Tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds
• ½ cup fat free vanilla Greek yogurt
• ¾ cup plain or vanilla kefir or replace with milk or non-dairy milk
• sweetener of your choice to taste (optional)

Instructions

• Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high power until smooth.

Notes

Skim or 1% milk can be used in place of kefir

Nutrition

Calories: 181kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 367mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 1902IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 180mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition Disclaimer: I try my best to make sure the nutrition information I provide is accurate to provide you with the best information possible. However, due to ingredient discrepancies and other factors, the above nutrition information should be considered an estimation only.

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