Sometimes… actually, a lot of the time, wonderful creations happen in the spur of the moment!
That’s how this smoothie bowl came about. I was preparing my usual morning smoothie, using frozen fruit (which varies by the week), ground flaxseed, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, omega oil, and a touch of stevia. The usual, nothing special, but wonderfully delicious and a perfect accompaniment to my morning eggs.
Then, as I was blending away, I realized that I didn’t use as much almond milk as I usually do and my smoothie ended up really thick, almost like ice cream! I thought…hmm, I guess I should just put this in a bowl today.
So I did just that!
The blend of pineapples, mango, and banana (I ordered this tropical blend from SPUD and seriously LOVE it!) looked so lonely in the bowl all by itself so I knew I had to get creative and turn this typical morning smoothie into a beautiful, bright, nutritious, and delectable smoothie bowl!
I love combining different textures to garnish my smoothie bowls so I perused the pantry and picked out some chia seeds, a fantastic source of fibre and healthy omega rich fatty acids, unsweetened shredded coconut, another great source of filling fats, fibre, and iron, and naturally sweetened Nature’s Path granola, a source of fibre, healthy fats, and B vitamins!
As I was just about to sprinkle the coconut on my smoothie bowl I had a brilliant idea to toast it! Toasting coconut changes the taste and lends a richer, more intense flavour – perfection!
My usual morning smoothie turned into a blog worthy masterpiece in a matter of minutes! Definitely a recipe worth sharing with all of you lovelies. It’s breakfast I’ll be making on the regular, for sure!
Unfortunately the early morning lighting wasn’t the best for photos – ah, the frustration of relying on natural lighting – but, I’m working on letting go of my perfectionism and figured it was good enough and the recipe was well worth the share!
- 1½ cups mixed frozen banana, pineapple, and mango (1/2 cup each)
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond or coconut milk
- 1 heaping tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 3 drops liquid stevia (optional)
- 1 scoop vanilla plant based protein powder (optional - see notes)
- Garnishes:
- 1 tablespoon shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted in a pan for 2-3 minutes
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon naturally sweetened gluten free granola
- sliced pineapple
- Start by toasting the coconut in a pan then set aside to cool.
- Blend smoothie ingredients until thick and smooth, transfer to a bowl.
- Top with garnishes.
- Enjoy!
What are your favourite smoothie bowl garnishes? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
Christal
Nutritionist in the Kitch
So pretty! I can see how smoothie bowls are becoming a trend now, but I really don’t mind as they are so pretty! And instead of having to wait until you’re almost finished with the smoothie before getting to the garnish, you can always have a bit of everything 😀 Yum!
Exactly! 🙂 Do you make lots of smoothie bowls Julie?
This looks delish! The toasted coconut really takes it to the next level and is something I would never think to add to my smoothie bowl, thanks for the great idea 🙂
Thank you for the lovely comment! 🙂
Wow – this looks delicious! I will have to lay in some supplies to make this on the weekend. I love chia in smoothies and I learned to put coconut on top from your carrot cake smoothie recipe, which was AWESOME. By the way, I really love your meal planning guide. I am going to sit down with that before I go shopping. It’s amazing how simple you made all the steps in planning for a whole week of meals & snacks! I think I can do it! I am so glad I got that e-book.
So glad you like the guide Judith! Thank you for the comment 🙂