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Açai Smoothie Bowl

May 20, 2015 by Randle 3 Comments

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As the yoga pant-clad woman in the shop at the beach passed my dragon fruit smoothie bowl across the counter and shoved a compostable spoon down the side, it was love at first sight.

I know I’m being dramatic when I say that smoothie bowls changed my life, so I’ll just say that smoothie bowls changed breakfast…and lunch…and sometimes dinner.

See, I used to spend the time before breakfast each morning trying to decide if I wanted cereal or a smoothie.

Cereal has been a lifelong love for me, and smoothies are my hot new thing. Each day, I ask myself if I should go with my roots or start up the blender. Now I don’t have to choose.

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If you’re not already onto them, let me tell you about smoothie bowls. They’re just what they sound like—a smoothie dumped into a bowl. But there’s more.

Once you don’t have to worry about slurping your smoothie up a straw, the game changes. Now, that already delicious bowl of blended bananas, blueberries, and açai, has become a canvas for you to cover with superfoods, like cacao nibs, mulberries, and goji berries, or you know, CHOCOLATE GRANOLA. And pecans. And cherries. And everything. It’s a smoothie…aaaaand it’s cereal.

One other difference I’ve noticed between smoothies and smoothie bowls is the fact that people (read: other bloggers, like The Minimalist Baker!) tend to pack smoothie bowls with nutritionally dense ingredients like they’re going out of fashion, which I’m totally on board with.

It’s a superfood smorgasbord!

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But I’ll be honest. I’m not convinced about the magical, mystical properties of ancient superfoods.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m ALL about trying new fun ingredients, like caramel-y mulberries, bitter goji berries, very GREEN spirulina, and earthy açai powder. But that’s just it, these ingredients are fun to me because they’re new (to me). Superfoods are like a new foodie playground filled with brand new toys.

But even if I’m not sure they’re as drastically transformative as some of the marketing makes them out to be, I do think that superfoods, like açai, have a lot of nutritional benefits, especially for vegans and people eating plant-based diets.

A lot of superfoods, like spirulina, can provide nutrients that people who don’t eat animal products might have a tough time coming by.

And Nourish NYC’s Marissa Lippert, M.S., R.D. says that “Açaí berries are jam-packed with a type of antioxidant called anthocyanins, thanks to their dark purple-black hue. Anthocyanins help prevent disease, like heart disease and cancer, and overall inflammation” (Refinery29).

I’m sold.

And what she didn’t mention is the fact that açai tastes like a cross between tart berries and dark chocolate.

::faints::

Try this smoothie bowl yourself and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #thatsplenty. If this is your first foray into smoothie bowls, then welcome. If you’re an old hat at smoothie bowls? You should have told me sooner. See you on the IG.

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Print
Açai Smoothie Bowl
Author: Randle Browning
Prep time:  5 mins
Total time:  5 mins
Serves: 1 serving
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1 banana
  • ½ cup grapes (or other juicy fruit, like berries)
  • 1 Tablespoon açai powder
  • Optional Toppings:
  • ¼ cup granola (try this homemade version: http://crandlecakes.com/2014/12/14/gingerbread-granola-vegan/)
  • ¼ cup fresh blackberries
  • ¼ cherries (pitted)
  • Small handful pecans
  • Optional: 1 Tablespoon cacao nibs
Instructions
  1. In a blender, combine blueberries, banana, grapes, and açai and blend until smooth.
  2. Pour into a bowl and put on the toppings listed, or others of your choice!
Notes
Nutrition information is for one smoothie without the optional toppings. You choose how crazy you want to go with them!

And if bananas are out of the question for you, swap in ½ cup coconut milk or some cashew cream (soak cashews for 2 hours, then blend with water until smooth).
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 Calories: 271 Fat: 1 Saturated fat: .2 Carbohydrates: 62.1 Sugar: 40.9 Sodium: 4.2 Fiber: 7.3 Protein: 2.9 Cholesterol: 0
3.3.3070

 

The Waco Vegan is no longer updated. You can find me over at RandleBrowning.com instead.

Filed Under: Blog, Bowls, Breakfast, Recipes, Smoothies Tagged With: açai, breakfast, recipe, smoothie, smoothie bowl, superfruit, vegan

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Comments

  1. Meg @ Noming thru Life says

    July 16, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    I love acai bowls! I’ve never had one with grapes though. But I definitely can see why you would use them. So I’m going to have to mix it up and give your smoothie bowl a go, with grapes 😉

    Reply
    • Randle says

      July 19, 2015 at 5:52 pm

      Meg, frozen grapes are so perfect for smoothies and smoothie bowls! They’re like ice cubes…but grape flavored! 😛

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 18 Vegan Smoothies to Make at Home - The Waco Vegan says:
    March 25, 2017 at 8:04 pm

    […] out a bit for the frozen açaï packets, but if you want you can just swap in frozen berries. (This açaï bowl recipe is from the […]

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Randle Browning

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Hey! I’m Randle. I’m a vegan from Waco who traveled around North America in an RV and landed in Brooklyn, NY. These days you can find me over at RandleBrowning.com.

 

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