If you happened to read the intro on the Dessert page of my blog, you’ll know I’m not a big dessert person. I certainly used to be! But over the course of the past 16 years as I’ve experimented with food and now eat a mostly plant-based diet, I’ve lost my taste and cravings for sweets. I’m not joking when I say I’d rather have another serving of salad instead of a slice of cake.
That doesn’t mean I completely abstain from eating goodies. Case in point – Thanksgiving. My aunt made two fabulous pies – apple crisp and pumpkin. They were both incredibly delicious and the pumpkin in particular was the best I remember having in a long time. Let’s just say I over-indulged……
Note to self: when someone offers to leave the remaining pie at your house, immediately refuse. Especially when your husband isn’t home to snarf down the remainders, as it will be you doing the snarfing – guaranteed.
So now that I’m trying to shed some excess Thanksgiving poundage, I’ve been eating very clean and lean this week. However, today I woke up craving something sweet (see, this is where eating pie gets you in trouble – it sucks you back down that slippery, Crisco-slathered slope into Sweet Tooth Land).
I know what you’re thinking – “Oh great! It’s bad enough that her Dessert page is empty, but now she’s going to give us a ‘diet’ dessert as the first offering!!”
And you would be right, kind of.
Make no mistake – just because something isn’t loaded with refined white sugar and enriched bleached flour doesn’t mean it’s not tasty and satisfying.
You can make this shake as healthy or as decadent as you wish. You can substitute ice cream for soy milk for all I care. I just want to show you one possible way to re-make a classic favorite in a way that doesn’t coat your arteries.
A traditional chocolate banana shake will typically have one scoop (1/2 cup) each of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, 1 cup of milk (probably whole), at least 2 tablespoons of Hershey’s chocolate syrup, and a medium-sized banana. That will set you back about 640 calories, 22 grams of fat, 73 grams of cholesterol, 100 grams of carbs, and 77 grams of sugar. On the plus side, you are getting 5 grams of fiber (mostly from the banana) and 15 grams of protein.
Compare that with my version and you get 440 calories, 7 grams of fat, zero cholesterol, 73.5 grams of carbs and 39.5 grams of sugar. On the plus side, you get 18.5 grams of fiber and 29.5 grams of protein – not to even mention all of the potassium and anti-oxidants.
So you’re getting double the protein, three times the fiber, half the sugar, two-thirds less fat and no cholesterol. It’s a no-brainer, right?
So what about the taste? It’s very chocolate-y and the banana gives it just the right amount of sweetness without going overboard. However, there is one recommendation I will make for any of you nutritional “newbies” out there. The protein powder I use is Raw Protein made by Garden of Life. I like it because it’s organic and gluten-free. But I will admit that it can leave a bit of a chalky texture that might be a turn off to some people. In that case, I would recommend the chocolate-flavored protein powder sold at Trader Joe’s (I think it’s the Aria brand, but I might be wrong). That brand is a lot sweeter and very smooth in texture, so it will very much “feel” like a traditional chocolate shake.
You might be wondering why I decided to add pomegranate seeds. Because right now they are in season and my freezer is loaded with them, so I throw them into everything I can. And the flavor goes very well with chocolate. It’s very similar to having strawberries or raspberries with chocolate!
One last suggestion: if you want to make this a shake, I would suggest freezing the banana (cut into chunks before freezing), pomegranate juice and seeds. That will make it nice and thick like a shake – you’ll probably need a spoon to eat it! Otherwise, if everything just comes out of the fridge, you’ll have a smoothie instead.
Ingredients
1 cup unsweetened vanilla flavored soy milk
½ cup pomegranate juice (I get mine from Trader Joe’s)
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
1 medium banana
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (or cacao nibs)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa flavored protein powder
Directions
- Check this post to see how to get fresh pomegranate seeds. I keep my freezer stocked with them!
- Cut the banana into chunks (if unfrozen) and place in a blender or food processor.
- Add the soy milk.
- Add the protein powder and cocoa powder.
- Add the pomegranate juice and seeds. The reason I add the ingredients in this order is because it tends to keep the protein and cocoa powder from clumping up and sticking to the sides. If it does, use a spatula to scrape it down.
- Blend thoroughly.
- Garnish with cacao nibs and pomegranate seeds.
Laura says
I love chocolate banana smoothies, but haven’t tried them with pomegranate! Sounds delicious and so much better than a dessert that leaves me feeling lethargic!
Amy says
Thanks, Laura! That’s exactly how I feel – don’t want to be dragged down by dessert!