Cacao Mint Smoothie

My friends at Grassroots Café here in Tampa are amazing.  They have an incredible vegan restaurant with a huge raw food selection.  Every time I try something new, I fall in love all over again with the vibrant flavors that can be created using organic, raw, and vegan ingredients.  They have been so kind to share with me a fabulous chocolate mint smoothie on a couple of occasions that is not on the menu.    It was so good that the first time I had it; I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days. 

I usually use the food I try in restaurants as inspiration for my recipes, but in this case, I wanted to get the recipe as close as possible.  Here is my version.  I think I got it pretty close.

If you are in Tampa, definitely check out Grassroots Café.  It is probably my favorite restaurant here in Tampa.  The food is fantastic.  My favorite things on the menu are the guacamole with raw chips, Sabrina’s favorite sandwich, the burger, Pad Thai, and the Jerk Chick-un.  If they have the key lime pie, dessert is a must.  Prepare to be blown away.

Cacao Mint Smoothie

1 1/4 cups coconut water

¼ cup young Thai coconut meat

1 frozen banana

1 tablespoon raw cacao powder

1 tablespoon agave

1 pinch ground vanilla bean

1 drop peppermint essential oil

1.      Combine all ingredients in the blender.  Blend until smooth.

2.      Serve and enjoy.

Note: Essential oils have a lot of health benefits.  The brand doTerra has a lot of great information on their website.  For this recipe, if you do not have any essential oil, you can substitute peppermint extract, but you may need to add a couple extra drops.  Essential oil is much more concentrated.