Okay, I lied in the title. It IS easy to be plant-based. Since moving to this type of diet back in November I haven't had many cravings for meat or dairy. That all changed on February 8th. What happened on that day you may ask...the first of my Facebook friends posted a picture of a Shamrock Shake and it just snowballed from there. One picture a day popping up on my news feed, taunting me. I have a weakness for the minty goodness and used to wait all year to get one.
Every since February 8th I have been thinking about making a non-dairy version of the treat. Finally, on this the first day of the month of March I did just that. Seriously it tasted just like it, no fancy whipped cream and cherry they do now (when did that start), but just the divine mint ice cream flavor I love.
Vegan Shamrock Shake (makes 2 servings)
1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
1 cup non-dairy vanilla ice cream (I used soy ice cream here)
1/2 tsp peppermint extract (adjust as desired)
6 spinach leaves (don't worry, just for the green color, you won't even taste it, unless you are weird and want to use Green #4 or whatever they put in green food coloring)
- In your blender add milk and spinach and blend until spinach is completely integrated and milk is sufficiently green.
- Add in ice cream and peppermint extract until smooth, adding additional milk as needed to reach desired consistency. I like mine on the thicker side and eat it with a spoon.
Viola! With about 200 calories and 10 grams of fat per serving it is not an everynight kind of snack, but once a year won't kill ya! And considering a Shamrock Shake from that place that sells them has twice the number of calories and 30% more fat it is at least slightly better for you AND it has spinach!
