The Smoothie Bowl

I have to admit that when I first heard about the smoothie bowl, I was skeptical. My first thought was Why in a bowl? This was before I thought of it like a bowl of fro-yo or an ice-cream sundae. And then, my mind started racing with all the topping possibilities. Mind-blow…

Once you get over the mind-blow, the next thing you need is your smoothie bowl base. Depending on your preference, you can start with a green or purple smoothie bowl. Below are the ingredients for my green smoothie bowl. And the great news is that for a purple smoothie base, you just swap the strawberries for a darker berry (blueberries or blackberries).

I include mint in my base because I love the taste of fresh herbs in everything. But if mint is not your jam (or you just don’t have it on hand), you can certainly leave it out.

Ingredients

• 2 bananas (sliced and frozen) – If you don’t have any frozen, that’s ok. I just throw mine in the freezer for a few minutes to chill.
• 1 cup strawberries, hulled
• 6 cups of spinach or kale (or mix of both)
• 1/3 cup of almond butter
• 1 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1 tablespoon of flax seeds
• 3 mint leaves

Quick tip: Before you begin to blend your smoothie, place your serving bowl(s) in the freezer. It’s no fun to having your smoothie get warm on you. Freezing your bowl means you can take your time savoring your smoothie.

After blending everything up, pour your smoothie base into your chilled bowl(s). Then you’re ready to add your toppings. And there is no limit my friends; it’s all about your own preferences and creativity. You can add anything and make any design (or no design). The main thing is that your smoothie base is thick enough to support your toppings (the above recipe has worked fantastic for me). Here are a few topping ideas:

• Any fresh or frozen fruit (berries, banana, mango, oranges, grapes)
• Toasted coconut
• Goji berries (dried)
• Chia seeds
• Vanilla chia pudding (click for recipe)
• Cacao nibs
• Cacao chips
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Flax seeds
• All nuts, chopped (macadamia are my favorite)
• All nut butters (go ahead and add a nice spoonful to the top)

Now it’s time to enjoy. I like to think of the smoothie bowl as the lazy Sunday smoothie. Instead of grabbing a cup to go, you can grab a spoon, take a deep breath, and enjoy it while reading the paper. Aaaaah.