Chocolate protein shake

On a lighter note, I wanted to tell you about the amazing, impromptu anti-oxidant/protein shake I made this morning.

I worked out and had some millet, but needed a little more to get me through to lunch. The pomegranate that I'd bought and prepared (i.e. removed the fruit from the peel and pulp) a couple of weeks ago had kept well--I'd put a couple of tablespoons in my salad every day--but it was time to use it up. I put it in the blender with some water, cacao powder, and hemp powder. The resulting shake was AMAZING. You could really taste the chocolate, and it was the perfect amount (maybe a tablespoon or two). It was the dark chocolate fix I hadn't realized I was craving. Equally important: you could also not-taste the hemp (four tablespoons or so)--I'd bought it to try and found it unpalatable, but it works well in shakes, where other ingredients cover up the flavor (it does *not* work in oatmeal). The pomegranate added just the right amount of sweetness and fruit-flavor--you could sub in frozen raspberries. It was like eating a chocolate-raspberry parfait, except healthier.

By the way, Brendan Brazier is really into hemp protein. I learned that after I'd had my less positive experiences with it, but I'm more willing now to make use of it (as long as I can hide the flavor).