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It’s always satisfying to have an “a-ha” moment, and I had one the other day regarding carrots in my smoothies.
The issue prior to the “a-ha” was this: I’ve seen many a smoothie recipe calling for carrot juice, but I wanted a recipe that uses whole carrots. Carrot juice has several problems: It is expensive, or it requires hauling out my husband’s clunky juicer of old to get a few drizzles of juice, and more importantly, all of the fiber (of which carrots have plenty) is removed. Whole carrots, by contrast, are cheap, always in my refrigerator, have all of their fiber intact, and are ready-to-use.
I tried giving whole carrots a whirl on several occasions to chunky, unpalatable results. If you have a Vitamix, you can liquify just about anything, but in an average blender, chopped carrots only become smaller chopped carrots, which is antithetical to a smoothie.
A solution dawned on me while grating carrots for some muffins. I was using the small grating holes because I like the extra-fine shreds in the muffins (they lead to moister, less dense muffins in the end). Why not do the same for a carrot smoothie?
So I did. And it was smooth, sweet delicious bliss. Even the oldest, clunkiest blender will produce a velvety carrot concoction when the carrots are prepped this way. And cleaning a box grater is a breeze compared with de-mucking the juicer.
Here’s my recipe for a mango-carrot smoothie, but keep in mind you can add a handful of finely shredded carrots to just about any smoothie. It will add gorgeous color, loads of nutrition, natural sweetness, and some extra body. Happy sipping!
Whole Carrot-Mango Smoothie (made with whole carrots, not carrot juice)
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen mango chunks
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely grated
- 1 cup ice water
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Sweetener to taste, optional: I used 2 packets of Organic Stevia
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients in blender; puree until smooth. Done!
Notes
(2) The mango need not be frozen, but it produces a thicker smoothie.
(3) Here is some more nutrition 411: This humble smoothie has 267% of your daily Vitamin A, 101% of your Vitamin C requirements, is high in potassium and vitamin B6, is very low in sugar, and is very high in dietary fiber.
Nutrition
Made the smoothie into Popsicles for my 1 year old daughter. I used a tablespoon of agave for the sweeter.
Great idea, Liz! 🙂
I use baby carrots in my majic bullet with no need to peel. I also add cherries to prevent my gout flare ups. Almond milk, flax seed, and Greek yogurt are also added. No need to sweeten.
Go with the lebanese flavour by adding fresh ginger to carrot juices- the grater will do this just fine- grate the ginger, and then squeeze the heap of fibre over the juice to extract the ginger juice….. a bit of zip…..
Oooh, that sounds great,Riddly!
Super tasty – thanks loads for the carrot grating tip. My son (he’s nearly 2) & I are enjoying a carrot, orange & mango smoothie now. Yum! And so good to have the carrot fibre xx
Oh, that is wonderful, Charlotte! You are so welcome–what a lucky little boy to have a mommy make him such delicious, healthy food right off the bat! 🙂
I’m definitely trying this
I so hope you do, Arnold!
This is amazing and clever Camilla. I absolutely loved your grating the carrots idea as I have a old blender as well.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You are so welcome, Pooja!
Wow. I have also tried blending carrots and had the same gross chunky problem. Going to try this right now for this morning’s smoothie. Thank you! Also – I came in to your blog on the recipe for savory energy bars. Does your book have more recipes for savory bars? I’m looking for things I can keep in my desk as quick lunch substitutes and I get so tired of sweet, but the savory ones on the market are so expensive. I’m going to experiment with your base recipe, but wondered if you had already done more experimenting. I will probably buy the book anyway, it looks great. Thanks in advance!
Camilla, I think you’re the only one who could come up with a great, healthy smoothie that I would drink-I love that you can make it in a regular blender!
Genius grating the carrots!
Thanks, Cynthia! 🙂
Hmm…what about using almond milk in place of the water? I was also thinking of adding a scoop of unflavored or vanilla protein powder for a little extra boost.
Hi Erin!
Oh, absolutely–you can definitely use your favorite milk her instead of the water (mmm, I’m thinking coconut water or light coconut milk would also be pretty amazing). And yes, definitely add your favorite vanilla protein powder, that would give some great creaminess. Enjoy! 🙂
MMM..now I’m thinking parsnips would be great done this way, too. The ones from the farmer’s market are really sweet. But my boyfriend might freak out over a parsnip smoothie 🙂 Shhhh….
LOL!!!! Yes, parsnips sound great, Naomi!
What a great idea, Camilla! I am definitely going to try this. I always have carrots in my fridge too, and carrot juice is crazy expensive
I think you’ll like it, Jenny–hard not to 🙂
Yay! I have all of the ingredients to make this!!!
Jamba Juice always charging me an extra dollar when I ask to sub carrot! :.(
Now you can make your own, for pennies! 🙂