green piña colada smoothie bowl recipe

So I had a smoothie bowl for the first time pretty recently. “How is that possible,” you’re wondering incredulously, “unless you’ve spent the last year and a half outside of modern society and away from social media as smoothie bowls have been absolutely freaking everywhere,”. I just never quite got around to it, I guess? Sometimes in life it’s just as simple as that, you know? Something doesn’t quite spark your interest right off the bat and so you never get around to trying or doing that thing, no matter how many good things you hear about it. But recently I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to eat as much fruit and fibre as possible and, as a result, I’ve been living that smoothie breakfast lifestyle every. single. day. And it’s great, don’t get me wrong, but then came the day where something I enjoyed suddenly became a chore in that I didn’t want a smoothie that morning but I still felt that I should have one. It was at that point that I suddenly remembered the existence of smoothie bowls and, just like that, the novelty of revamping my breakfast chased away the smoothie ennui. So I made it. And it was really, really good.

It’s at this point that you’re thinking to yourself: “Yeah, smoothies are good so a smoothie in a bowl with toppings would also be good. Why is this such a surprise?”. Ahk, but that doesn’t do it justice, though! The smoothie bowl is one of those things where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s healthy, refreshing, easy to meal-prep, aesthetically pleasing, jam-packed with vitamins and fibre, and, above all, so freaking tasty. It is essentially just a cold, fruit soup, I guess, but don’t punish the dish for my terrible, simplistic description,- it’s innocent in all of this!

Get on it, people. T’is the fruit season, after all.

pina colada smoothie bowl recipe

makes: 1 10oz bowl    Prep time: 5 minutes    Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Smoothie ingredients:

• 2/3 cup quinoa
• 1/2 ripe avocado, sliced (frozen or fresh)
• 1.5c frozen pineapple, chopped 
• 1 frozen ripe banana, sliced
• 1/3c blueberries (frozen or fresh)
• 2 large handfuls spinach, thoroughly washed
• 1 handful kale, thoroughly washed and chopped
• 1c coconut water

Optional add-ins:

• 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal or psyllium husk (for added fibre)
• 2 Tbsp salted creamy almond or peanut butter (for added protein)
• a few granules of bee pollen (for added protein, antioxidants and amino acids)
• 1 tsp melted coconut oil (for added antioxidants)
• 1 pinch of spirulina (for added protein and omega 3 fatty acids)

Toppings:

• 1/4-1/3 c fresh berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries, strawberries and etc.
• 1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds
• 2 Tbsp unsweetened, shredded coconut
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds

Directions:

1. Wash, prepare and measure out all of the smoothie ingredients.
*Note: If you’d like to prep your smoothie bowls in advance, you can pack up the washed, chopped and portioned fruits and vegetables (minus the coconut water, spinach and optional add-ins) in resealable bags and freeze them for up to two months. When you’re ready to move forward with your smoothie bowl, simply use your pre-prepped ingredients to move on to step two, ensuring that you add the missing ingredients as well as any optional add-ins that strike your fancy.

2. Place all of the smoothie ingredients in a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds, or until the smoothie mixture is smooth. Depending on the quality of your blender, you may then have to use a spatula to scrape the blender sides,- after unplugging the machine for safety,- before re-blending for an additional 30 seconds in order to ensure that the mixture is well-incorporated and free of chunks.

3. Pour the smoothie ingredients into a bowl or jar. Garnish with fresh fruit, seeds, nuts, spices and whatever else your heart desires. Enjoy immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 12 hours if preparing in advance.