smoothie bowl – Nat's Ladle

If you could eat gelato while taking in three serves of veg and two serves of fruit, does that sound to good to be true? Well, you’re in for a treat! With this beetroot acai smoothie bowl, you’re not only giving your body five serves of fruit and veg with bucketloads of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre but also high-quality protein as well as omega 3s! And as long as you have some grated beetroot and kale ready (I’d recommend to always keep a serve in your freezer!), it comes together so quickly and easily that you don’t even have to get up early!

As you might have guessed from the hint I dropped above, this beetroot acai smoothie bowl contains beetroot, but wait! I totally understand that not everyone is as crazy as me (or Aussies in general) about beetroot, but you should really give it a try! Besides beetroot’s nutritional benefits such as for your blood, kidneys and skin, it imparts a lovely purple colour to this smoothie. If you use a good-quality vegan protein powder, the earthy taste really shouldn’t be too pronounced. If you’re still skeptical, start with a small serve of beetroot and then work your way up. It’s a great addition to your morning routine and also a colourful change to the ubiquitous green smoothies. Or add a frozen banana – this will make your smoothie bowl even sweeter and creamier and bring this smoothie up to three serves of fruit instead of two!

While the Australian recommendation today is to consume five serves of veg and two serves of fruit and no longer 3+2, I think getting in 3 veg and 2-3 fruit in the AMs is still a great achievement. If you want to take it up a notch, feel free to add some more veg to this, such as zucchini which also adds some bulk without altering the flavour, or sweet potato (yes, you can have raw sweet potato!)

Beetroot Acai Smoothie Bowl

Serves one

1 cup plant milk
2 cups mixed berries raspberries
a handfull of roughly shredded kale
a handful of spinach
half a cup handful of grated beetroot
frozen banana (optional) (more carbs, but also more flavour and nutrition!)
1 tbsp dry acai powder
3 tbsp vegan vanilla protein powder
Toppings: chia seeds, hemp seeds, granola, goji berries, coconut flakes etc.

Blitz all ingredients bar the toppings in a high-powered blender, scoop into a bowl, top with your favourite toppings and…

Enjoy!

Anyone who has ever lived in Melbourne or has spent some time in this city knows that the weather here is pretty -ahem- moody, to say the least. Temperature differences of up to 20 degrees from one day to the next are not a rarity! Needless to say your immunity gets quite a good workout all year round which is why it is extra important to get those greens in!

I love smoothies and shakes as they are so filling and satisfying without clogging your stomach and you can put all the goodness you want in them in just a couple of minutes flat! They are my go-to breakfast if I don’t have time to prepare porridge or just crave something light before a workout. Smoothies also work great as an afternoon pick-me-up and I tend to put my supplements such as probiotics and maca powder in them. And because their texture is so creamy and luscious I always have the feeling I’m devouring a naughty icecream when I am actually consuming concentrated goodness!

I usually make a shake/smoothie (bowl) every day and experiment with different flavour combinations. I love this one as it is sooo good for you yet tastes really sweet and creamy thanks to banana and mango! It is also completely vegan while giving the impression you are having a milkshake. You can add some vegan protein powder to ramp up the protein. I happened to have a lot of kale and spinach from my vegetable box delivery so to prevent them from going bad, I actually washed and chopped the kale and spinach and froze them in individual portions in ziploc bags! This way, I always have some frozen greens as a “smoothie kit”. You can of course use fresh kale/spinach. The same goes for bananas. I think everyone should have frozen chopped bananas in the freezer at any given time but if you only happen to have fresh bananas like I did at the time, it’s completely fine to use a fresh banana and some icecubes.

Tropical Superfood Shake

Makes 1 generous portion

2 cups “liquid” (I used half water and half orange juice, but coconut water, your favourite juice or your plant milk of choice would all be great options)
1 large ripe banana, frozen and chopped, or fresh plus a handfull of icecubes
1 cup frozen mango
1-2 handfulls kale and/or spinach, frozen or fresh
green powder, maca, probiotic powder etc. (optional)

Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender until smooth (it might take a couple of rounds of blending).

Enjoy!