While every man, woman, and child is talking about making soup and eating pumpkin everything (both of which I love, might I add), it is feeling steamy here in California. The past several days it has been 90 degrees with a strong, shining sun above – which is hot for San Diego County and the weather-spoiled residents of this area!
I definitely will be happy to see 65-75 degree days come back, especially since my house has no air conditioning and it has felt toasty at home. Until that time comes, my smoothie habit is in overdrive, and I’m going to just keep sharing the new recipes I’ve come up with for refreshing liquid meals. Sound good to you?
I’m usually kind of iffy about out of place ingredients in things – black beans in brownies and avocado in chocolate mouse… you aren’t fooling me! – but this smoothie is definitely an exception.
(Any ideas?)
This smoothie initially came about because I was craving raspberries. Luckily I had a bag of frozen raspberries on-hand to use, which was perfect because frozen fruit always makes a creamier smoothie than fresh ones. I tend to keep a few bags of frozen fruit around – always strawberries, plus bananas that I cut in half and freeze, then I rotate between cherries, raspberries, peaches and mixed berry bags. They especially come in handy when I run out of fresh fruit but can’t make it to the food store right away.
To make the smoothie even creamier, I added an ingredient that I had just used in my spinach stuffed pasta shells dinner the night before that’s also amazing atop pizza or toast: ricotta! I had never put ricotta in a smoothie before and I wasn’t sure if it would be weird… but it turned out so good. The ricotta adds a rich flavor, not to mention a nice little dose of protein.
Might I also mention the awesome dietary fiber content in this smoothie: 1 cup of frozen raspberries has 9 grams of fiber, and the 1 TBSP of chia seeds provides 5 grams. Fiber is your friend because it helps you feel fuller longer, and also helps things to, um, shall we say, move smoothly through your body. Get my drift? Fiber is good for you!
So the next time you pass by ricotta at the grocery store or have some sitting pretty in your fridge, I hope that you try whipping up this pink deliciousness. 🙂
Creamy Raspberry Chia Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- 1 TBSP honey
- 1 TBSP chia seeds
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
- Ice
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth.
- Pour into a glass and enjoy immediately!
Nutrition
Tell me… Are you a ricotta fan? Have you been drinking smoothies a lot lately too?
I LOVE that you used ricotta in your smoothie! If it wasn’t like 30 degrees here I would be all over this. Ugh it’s like winter here. NOT PLEASED.
Yikes!! I’d be having soup for dinner every night (which you probably are).
Cool idea, adding ricotta cheese! I love it with fruit so this would add awesome texture, I’m sure. Thanks!
It certainly does!
I definitely want to try ricotta in my smoothies… Sounds really good!
You should, it IS really good!
I never considered putting ricotta in a smoothie before! It makes sense since ricotta goes so well with dessert-type food and smoothies are sweet. I am definitely a huge smoothie fan. I haven’t been in NYC in about a week and a half so I’m not sure how the weather is but where I have been it has been very hot so I am definitely more in the mood for smoothies than soup currently!
Oooh yeah, I should incorporate ricotta in more desserts!
I’m glad to see summer isn’t COMPLETELY a thing of the past. Even though boston weather demanded a wool sweater and coat today- I’m actually very much in the mood for this type of smoothie right now. Ricotta was a great addition, and its so pretty!
I actually love this time of the year in the Northeast! I’m making the the trip to NJ in a few weeks so I’ll get to experience autumn there myself this year 🙂
I seriously have never used ricotta in my smoothie… that is such a good idea! I want to try!!
You should definitely try it out!
Bring on all the smoothies! They are a go-to breakfast option for me so I love trying out new combos! And I would have never thought to add ricotta! We love ricotta but I always have some hanging out after I buy it for a recipe. What a great way to use it up!
Exactly! I had some hanging around leftover from dinner the night before. I hate letting food go to waste, so this is going to be my go-to meal when I have leftover ricotta from now on 🙂