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I know it’s not fall yet but now is about the time I start to get really sick of summer and I long for the cooler temperatures and the warm, aromatic flavors of fall. I found a recipe on pinterest for a Vegan Creamy Roasted Carrot Coconut Shake and I thought it sounded fabulous! But it involves roasting the carrots for about 30 minutes and then making the smoothie and that’s not something I want to do early in the morning -I like quick breakfasts. So I decided to combine the Carrot Shake recipe with another recipe for Overnight Oatmeal Smoothies.
The overnight oatmeal smoothies are nice because you don’t need frozen fruit or ice to make them thick -the oats and chia seeds absorb the liquid as they sit overnight and by morning the smoothie is nice and thick. With this smoothie it was especially nice because by morning the flavors of the spices had become even stronger -it tasted kind of like carrot cake -yum!
The other nice thing about roasting the carrots and making the smoothie the night before is you can make it with dinner. The roasted carrots were delicious and would be great as a side dish for a meal -just throw on a few extra carrots and reserve them for your smoothie!
As always, this recipe is gluten free! It also happens to be vegan this time. 🙂
Creamy Roasted Carrot Overnight Smoothie
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. carrots
Dash of Cinnamon
dash of Nutmeg
dash of Ginger
dash of Cloves
Pinch of salt
1 T. coconut oil, melted
1/4 c. rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill Certified Gluten Free Oats)
1/2 T. chia seeds (optional)
1 1/2 c. milk (I used Unsweetened Almond/ Coconut Milk Blend)
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 T. pure maple syrup
Sweetener of your choice, to taste (I used 1 packet of stevia)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt the coconut oil and add a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves to the oil. Toss the carrots in the oil (I put them in a ziploc bag with the oil and tossed them around until they were well coated and then dumped everything on to the pan) and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Let the carrots roast for about 30 minutes -they should be fairly soft and browning.
Put the oats and chia seeds in your blender and blend (you can also use a coffee grinder for the oats and chia seeds if you want a smoother, less textured smoothie). Add the rest of the ingredients and the roasted carrots to the blender and blend until smoothish. Add extra spices and sweetener if you’d like -I love spices so I added quite a bit of those.
Pour your smoothie into a cup or jar that has a lid and holds approximately 2 cups. Refrigerate overnight and enjoy in the morning (blend it again if you like a smoother texture -I like it a bit chunky).