The Perfect Fall Smoothie

The onset of fall has brought a bounty of winter squashes to my CSA boxes. The other day I was pondering what to do with them when it hit me - roast them and make pumpkin smoothies (well, pumpkinish as none of my winter squashes are actually pumpkins. I did get one pumpkin but Jane quickly stole that and drew faces and put stickers all over it so I couldn't cook it up after that).

First I rinsed off the squashes (for the first batch I chose the kabocha and acorn squash) and then cut them in half and scooped out the seeds - which I roasted alongside the squashes. Next I cut the squashes into slices and roasted them for approximately 30-40 minutes on 400F (seeds should only roast for about 20 minutes). When the squashes were soft I pulled them out of the oven and let them cool. Once cooled I scooped them out of their skin and put them into a bowl. This made about 4 cups. If you don't want to roast the squash yourself, you can use pumpkin from a can.

There are several delicious ways you can use roasted winter squash in a smoothie. I have made two variations, one with banana and one with oatmeal. The oatmeal one is a little bit thicker and tends to keep me satisfied a little longer, although both are quite filling. Try them both and let me know which one you prefer.

oatmeal version

Pumpkin(ish) Smoothie

1 cup roasted winter squash (acorn, butternut, kabocha, pumpkin, etc) or canned pumpkin

2 Tbs chia seeds or flax seeds

1 banana (preferably frozen) or 1/3 cup rolled oats (preferably soaked in almond milk for at least an hour or two and up to overnight)

1 cup almond milk (can substitute real milk or any nondairy milk)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp cinnamon

5 drops vanilla stevia (or 1 packet stevia or 1 Tbs maple syrup or 1 Tbs Honey - not necessary if using a banana)

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until a smooth consistency is reached.