Photos by Rikki Snyder.
A spicy smoothie?! Have I gone mad? Yes. Yes, I have. Like nearly everyone else, I am starting out the year with a goal of losing weight. My fridge is stocked with fruit, I'm letting Chris finish all of my Christmas candy, we bought a treadmill, and "Eye of the Tiger" is playing in a constant loop in my head. (In a week, I'll probably be demanding that Chris give me back my Christmas candy and using the treadmill for cat racing, but let's focus on the present!) I always feel like I have to work twice as hard at this whole weight loss thing because my metabolism is jacked up--eleven years ago, I lost 100 pounds (yes, really!) and while I kept most of it off, it's been hard because once you gain and lose that much weight, your metabolism is never the same. Enter: cayenne pepper.
I once read that cayenne pepper is good for the ol' metabolism and I totally latched onto that idea. Let's put cayenne pepper in everything! I'm a big fan of the whole spicy lemonade thing and even if it does nothing for my metabolism, I like that little kick of heat. So I thought I'd try adding it to a smoothie. I was going to try to do a spicy lemonade smoothie, but a lemon smoothie would need heaps of sweetener, which kind of defeats the purpose of a healthy smoothie, so I used frozen mango chunks and mandarin oranges instead.
No, not the canned mandarin oranges you get at salad bars! The fresh kind! It's citrus season now and you can find all kinds of oranges and tangerines and tangelos and whatnot at the grocery store and mandarins are one of my favorites. But any kind of sweet citrus will work here—tangerines, satsumas, clementines, or just plain oranges will do.
This smoothie is creamy and smooth and each sip ends with a punch of cayenne to the taste buds. (If you don't like spicy, you can use less or omit it altogether though!) It's a great base for adding other ingredients too. Need some more greens in your diet? Toss a handful or two of spinach into the blender! Want to add some protein to make it a meal smoothie? Vanilla protein powder would be perfect in this.
Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 large Mandarin orange peeled and seeded
- 1 cup frozen mango chunks
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne optional, or use less for a more mild smoothie
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more milk for a thinner smoothie, if desired.
Nutrition
Grace @ FoodFitnessFreshAir says
I love the sound of the cayenne in this recipe with the mango. And 100 pounds - you go girl! I have no doubt you'll be able to keep it up well into 2014.
Kiersten Frase says
Thank you! 😀
Shelley @ Two Healthy Kitchens says
What a great and totally intriguing idea - cayenne for a spicy smoothie! Love it! If I introduce this idea (and especially the spicy lemonade) to my husband, I'm afraid he'll have me spiking everything with cayenne - he already loves spicy coffee! Also, I am so, so impressed that you lost 100 pounds - that is an amazing accomplishment and I'm just in awe of the dedication and discipline that must have required! Don't give up on that treadmill - I love mine for times like this (-20F - gahhhhhhh!!!) when it's just too cold to run outside! But, seriously - if you do try some cat racing - please, please post video! 😀
Shelley @ Two Healthy Kitchens says
Hello, coincidence! Ummmmm ... really ... my poor little dog just came running desperately up the basement stairs. Why? To escape my husband who was trying to teach him to run on the treadmill! I can hear my husband gleefully cheering him on with positive reinforcements at this very moment! Not kidding - those cat races might be really workable! Lol for sure! 😀
Kiersten Frase says
I think we both replied to your comment at the SAME EXACT TIME. Crazy! If your husband figures out how to get your dog to run on the treadmill, let me know the secret. 😉
Kiersten Frase says
Spicy coffee is a thing?! Wow, I've never heard of that! I think my husband would love that too. Our cats are pretty much terrified of the treadmill (whenever we use it, they stare at it with suspicion), except for Mochi who will walk on it like it's no thang. We really need to take video!
Julia Mueller says
So much FLAVA!!!! There are so many good things in that smoothie, I can barely stand it! I love cayenne and didn't realize it was helpful for metabolism. I'm imagining this smoothie to be so very tropical with the most wonderful kick. I need to slurp it down, ASAP!
Kiersten Frase says
Yeah, I think I heard about the cayenne thing in conjunction with the whole master cleanse thing, so I suppose it should be taken with a grain of salt. 🙂 But I WANT to believe.
Kare Troughton says
My blog post for today has a very similar introduction. New year, fresh start! We can do it! Holy moly, especially with smoothies like these. This is so gorgeous (more mouth-watering Rikki photos! She's amazing!) and so, so brilliant. I can't wait to try it.
Kiersten Frase says
I know, I get so excited whenever I do a collaboration with Rikki! Blogging is a lot less stressful when I don't have to make something 5 times to get the photos right. 🙂 And yes, we can do it! Smoothies will help!
Deanna Segrave-Daly says
LOVE cayenne & mango together - this smoothie looks delish!
Kiersten Frase says
It's such a good combination, right?! 🙂
Liz says
Holy sh*t, girl, 100 lbs?! Good for YOU! I can't even get rid of the 10 that have somehow, mysteriously amassed over the past 3 years. . .You're now my inspiration. 🙂 Good luck, and keep us posted!
PS Hope you're feeling better and that you're fully recouped from your post-holiday illness. 🙂
Kiersten Frase says
It's WAAAAY harder to lose a small amount of weight than a large amount of weight. It took me about a year to lose that 100 pounds, and what little I gained back, I've been struggling to lose for about 4 years. My problem before was that I ate crap food. Now I eat good food, but portion sizes are my downfall. And yes, I am feeling better--thank you! 🙂
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health says
i have been enjoying oranges so much lately..never thought of turning them into smoothies. the touch of cayenne makes it very special.
Kiersten Frase says
I love tossing an orange into my smoothies. I need the extra Vitamin C! 🙂
courtney says
Love love love! I have to make this 🙂 I'm absolutely obsessed with Mango.
Kiersten Frase says
Me too! I'm not big on fruit, but I will happily eat mango instead of candy. 🙂
EA-The Spicy RD says
Make mine SPICY of course 🙂 Hmmm...though....I've only tried "sweet" spices in smoothie, but I'm going to try this one for sure, especially b/c it has mandarin oranges in it {need to pick some from my parents tree!} Jealous of your treadmill...we bought one a couple of years ago {an incline treadmill} and it worked fabulously until last year when the console went "kaput" just out of warranty 🙁 I've been making due with outside exercise {the best}, but with the incline it gives a great workout, plus I can do a light workout while reading e-mails, so I think I need to spend the $$$ {almost the cost of a new one} to get it fixed. Then I can drink this smoothie while I'm getting my workout in 🙂 Cheers!
Kiersten Frase says
You can be jealous of my treadmill and I'll be jealous of your parents' mandarin tree. 🙂 Our treadmill has an incline too--we love it! And it's pretty sturdy for what we paid for it (not much, at least as far as treadmills go!).
Elisa @ Insalata di Sillabe says
One of the very few reasons thanks to which I like Winter is that is citrus season! I'm a big fan of oranges and mandarins so this smoothie is perfect for me!
xo, Elisa
Kiersten Frase says
Me too! I love when all the obscure citrus fruits are at the grocery store. 😀
Robyn says
This looks so yummy! Have you tried barre3 online workouts in addition to your treadmill routine? I love it and have had a lot of success losing weight and inches doing their workouts over the past year. I think they're doing a free 15-day trial right now: http://blog.barre3.com/2014/01/02/free-trial-to-barre3-online-workouts/. Thanks for the great smoothie recipes this week and Happy New Year!
Kiersten Frase says
Thanks for sharing! I've heard of that, but I've never tried it. You had me at free trial though. 🙂 Happy New Year to you too!
Maria Tadic says
Good luck with your resolutions! This smoothie seems like a yummy way to reach them!
Kiersten Frase says
Thank you! 9 days into the New Year, I've been sticking to them. So that's good! 🙂
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
For me, extra pinch of cayenne please. Yum!
Kiersten Frase says
Me too! 🙂 I love anything that's sweet and spicy.
marquis @realrawkitchen says
What an interesting combo! I regularly have all of these ingredients in my kitchen (and thanks to my past self that froze a bunch of uber ripe mango back when it was mango season here .. rather than selfishly eating it all) so I'll have to give this a try!
Congrats on the weight loss, too. I'm sure it's old news but I don't think it should go without notice, ever! That's incredible 🙂
Kiersten Frase says
Next time champagne mangoes are in season, I should freeze a bunch! Those are my favorites and it never occurred to me to freeze them until you mentioned it. 🙂 Oh, and thank you--learning to cook real foods vs. eating out of packages can make a huge difference!
Skye says
I'm on a smoothie kick at the moment too... This sounds delicious - and the cayenne pepper is a lovely touch!
Kiersten Frase says
I've been having them for lunch a lot lately. I'm a little bit obsessed!
Marta @ What should I eat for breakfast today says
You make me excited to visit your blog. I love the new 6 posts per week. Each day something new and yummy.
Kiersten Frase says
Thank you! I'm excited about 6 posts a week too! 😀
Joanne says
I had NO IDEA you'd lost so much weight!! AMAZING. And so inspirational. But also true. I lost around 50 lb in college and my metabolism is okay but nowhere near what it was then and the year after!! Now every 5 pounds is a battle. I like the hint of spice, though. In all things, but especially with sweets.
Kiersten Frase says
Thank you! I wrote a post about it once, but I didn't want this to be, like, a weight loss blog so I don't talk about it a lot. Congratulations on your weight loss too! Isn't it completely unfair how your metabolism gets messed up like that? Ugh! I swear, if I even think about eating a slice of cake, I gain weight now.
Kira - HealthAble Old Soul says
Almond milk is delicious! I love it so much better than regular milk or even soy milk!
Kiersten Frase says
I love it too! The only milk I like more is cashew milk, but unfortunately they don't sell that in stores!
Shirley says
I want this! Just love mango. But, um... my spice wimp self says minus the cayenne. 😉 100 pounds is quite an accomplishment! I can't picture that, you look so slender in your photo. I lost 28 total, but gained back 2 stubborn pounds over Christmas that won't go away. This smoothie might help.
Kiersten Frase says
It definitely works without the cayenne too. 🙂 2 pounds over the holidays isn't that bad--and we're only 12 days into January, so I'm sure you will lose it soon enough!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Mango smoothies are my favorite and I love the idea of adding a little spice!
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen says
Cayenne for the win! Whoa I'm loving this!
Nichol says
I would have never thought to add cayenne to a smoothie. I add cayenne to a lot of foods due to the metabolism boosting powers. Gonna give this a try!
Kiersten Frase says
Have you ever had spicy lemonade? If you like that, you'll probably like it in a smoothie because it's the same sweet/spicy thing. 🙂 It's good on pineapple too!
Mira says
When in a "diet" mood, I add cayenne pepper to everything! I even drink water with cayenne and lemon juice. This smoothie seems full of flavor and I must try it since, I've never made mandarin orange smoothie, but I love mango and pineapple and all three will be perfect together!
Kiersten Frase says
I love cayenne in lemon water too! 🙂
Anna @ Blender Authority says
Yum. This looks a great combo and I would have never thought to try cayenne pepper.
blenderadvisors says
I've been enjoying oranges so much lately..never an idea of turning them to smoothies. The touch of salt water makes it special. Thanks