Leftover Squash? Try This Vit A-Packed Fall Spice Smoothie
October 18, 2012 by Jolene
Filed under *Featured*, Beauty Foods, Eat Pretty: Recipes
Last night I roasted squash to serve as a quick side dish with soup. I halved the squash, set aside the seeds, and let it roast (cut side down in a tiny bit of water) for 40 minutes as I practiced yoga in the living room. When I was finished, it was too.
Not only is cooked squash (pick your fave: butternut, acorn, kabocha, delicata, hubbard) incredibly warming and grounding to our bodies in the fall, squash is super high in beta carotene, which converts to vitamin A, an essential beauty vitamin for healthy cell growth and damage repair, contributing to soft, clear, youthful-looking skin. Vitamin A is also important for strong vision! Getting enough A is easy with fall squash— one cup of cooked butternut squash has 457% of your daily vitamin A needs, for example.
That might be the end of the squash story— except for the leftovers…
This morning, I used one half of a leftover acorn squash to make this incredible Fall Spice Smoothie. Its vitamin A content, omegas and probiotics make it a beauty food trifecta! And the taste is reminiscent of a slice of creamy pumpkin pie. Trust me, you’ll want to roast a whole squash just so you can make a double batch to share…
- 1½ cup cooked squash (acorn, butternut, kabocha, delicata, pumpkin, etc)
- ½ cup coconut milk kefir (or sub a non-dairy milk like almond milk)
- ½ cup filtered water
- 2 Tbsp flax seed
- scant ¼ tsp (a few shakes) pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 3 drops liquid stevia
- ½ tsp maca (optional- great for energy)
- dash sea salt
- In a Vitamix or other high-powered blender, blend squash, kefir and water.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
Another butternut squash recipe I love: Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto!
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You could add to this chia seeds as they’re so healthy too and suit to almost every meal! One comment here: flax seeds need to be freshly ground – otherwise you won’t absorb their properties and won’t digestive them properly (but ground just before adding not earlier! as their properties will oxidized while waiting before being added)