A splendid dish to brighten your morning
An energizing and nourishing way to start your morning is with a smoothie for breakfast. Full of healthy ingredients that leave you full without feeling bloated, smoothies are an excellent jump start for your body in the mornings.
If you don’t like the idea of drinking your breakfast through a straw, there is an alternate way to eat your morning smoothies: in a bowl. A smoothie bowl allows you to add toppings and whole ingredients to make the dish’s consistency more interesting. Here are some examples…
Sweet greens smoothie bowl
This smoothie bowl recipe by Jorge Cruise of Clean Eating Magazine delivers generous amounts of green food nutrients. Blend 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, half an avocado, 1 cup spinach, 1 cup kale, one-half cup frozen mango, 1 scoop pea protein powder, 2 ice cubes and one-fourth cup cold water in a blender until smooth and green. Make the consistency thinner by adding more cold water if you want. Then, pour the mixture into a bowl and lay one-fourth cup sliced banana, a sliced kiwi and 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes on top. Your smoothie bowl is ready to eat!
Blueberry muffin smoothie bowl
If you want something similar to the previous recipe in preparation, but that offers a different variety of ingredients, try this berry smoothie bowl suggested by Cheryl of 40 Aprons.
Start by obtaining 1 cup frozen blueberries, one banana, one-half teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons almond milk and lemon zest. Blend these simple items in a high-speed blender until smooth. Then move the mixture to a serving bowl and cover it with any or all of the following ingredients: sliced almonds, honey, peanut butter, almond butter, unsweetened coconut flakes, fresh blueberries, lemon slices, hemp seeds or chia seeds.
Mango smoothie bowl
If you want a smoothie bowl with a tropical flavor, try the mango smoothie bowl offered by Lisa Bryan of Downshiftology. Its ingredients deliver plenty of vitamins and antioxidants. Bryan recommends using frozen fruit as the basis of the smoothie and layering the ingredients so the liquid is on the bottom of the blender.
The smoothie consists of 1 1/2 cup mango chunks, one-half cup pineapple chunks, half of a banana and 1 cup coconut water. After you’ve pureed these ingredients into a thick yellow nectar, add some color to the smoothie bowl by topping it with fresh blueberries, unsweetened coconut flakes, chai spiced granola and fresh slices of mango and pineapple.
Avocado smoothie bowl with cashew cream
The basis of the smoothie bowl is a combination of one-fourth cup avocado, one-fourth cup low-fat vanilla Greek yogurt, three-fourth cup unsweetened almond milk, 2 tablespoons vanilla protein powder, half a frozen banana and one-fourth cup kale.
Before blending these ingredients, though, you have to make the signature cashew cream, which is done by baking cashews at 400° until golden, soaking them in water overnight in the refrigerator and blending the softened cashews with coconut milk in a food processor. You can use this cream sauce as a garnish on the smoothie bowl along with coconut flakes and pomegranate seeds.
Eating a smoothie bowl is almost like having ice cream for breakfast, but without all the guilt and unhealthy aspects. Give one of these a try and see how it’s possible to eat healthily and deliciously.
