Superfood Hot Chocolate

Welcome to Recipe Tuesday!  I’ve decided to post a new recipe every Tuesday to help you keep your kitchen time fun, interesting and of course, healthy!

Since today is Tuesday (also Election Day — get out there and vote!!) I’m going to kick this off with something yummy – a hot chocolate that is loaded with all kinds of goodies.

A friend posted this recipe on Facebook the other day and as soon as I saw it, I ran to the kitchen and made it.  Who doesn’t love hot chocolate?!   What makes this hot chocolate so wonderful is that it includes all kinds of wonderful “superfoods” like turmeric, cacao powder and maca powder.

In case you’re unfamiliar with these superfoods, here’s some information on why they are so “super”:

• Turmeric – a spice used heavily in Indian cooking; it accounts for a lot of the yellowish tint that you can find in some Indian dishes.  The active compound in turmeric – curcumin – has been used to lower inflammation within the body and for it’s abundance of antioxidants.
• Cacao – just another word for chocolate that generally refers to raw vegan chocolate products which come from un-roasted cacao beans and are minimally processed with no additives.  The beautiful thing about cacao is that it contains high levels of antioxidants, improves mood and boosts cardiovascular health — just to name a few.  When it comes to chocolate quality is crucial!  To reduce the impact of the sugar, aim for dark chocolate that is at least 70% or better, pure cacao.
• Maca – a relative of the turnip family which contains adaptogenic properties that support your body’s ability to deal with stress while supporting healthy energy, and performance levels.  Maca was a staple in the diet of indigenous Andeans and is also known in Peru as “Peruvian ginseng” used by males with low sexual stamina.

Perhaps now you can see why I was so excited to make this hot chocolate — it’s a Health Coaches delight — superfoods, healthy fats and yummy dark chocolate!

Try it out and let me know what you think!

In case you aren’t sure where to purchase these superfoods, you can try your local healthful store, Amazon or a combination of these sites:  nuts.com and savoryspiceshop.com.

I am not responsible for any shopping habit you create by shopping at these sites (if you’re a foodie like me, you can spend lots of money buying spices, nuts, powders, etc!).