"Acai" bowl recipe!

Before I start I want to be very clear that this isn’t technically an ‘acai bowl’ as it contains absolutely no acai…

Acai is a grape-like berry from Central and South America, which is considered a “superfood” due to its high concentration of antioxidants and other health benefits. This berry has to be freeze dried within 24 hours of it being harvested in order to keep its nutritional values, which along with the fact that only 10% of the berry is actually edible (it has a very large stone!) makes it a VERY expensive product to buy!

So this leads me on to my recipe! I would consider this a ‘smoothie bowl’ more than anything else, but with many of the same health benefits of an actual acai bowl as well as the same pretty aesthetic, it’s a great alternative for a fraction of the cost!

The actual smoothie consists of just a handful of frozen raspberries, a banana and a dash of water in order to get the correct consistency. Raspberries have many similar health benefits to acai berries as they are filled with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Bananas are filled with potassium, which lowers blood pressure, as well as providing a variety other vitamins to help with overall health. I just put these into my blender (you can find the one I used here) with a small amount of water so it blends together well! A spoonful of Greek yoghurt could also be added here if you prefer a creamier consistency and want some added protein!

If you want you could stop here, add a little extra water for a thinner consistency, and have a delicious smoothie but I’m going to show you what I topped mine with! This part is really up to what you like and what you have lying around the house, so the things I used were: goji berries, almonds, desiccated coconut, blueberries, chia seeds and granola. All of these items have various benefits so I’ll really quickly run through them!

Goji berries: considered a “superfood”, packed with antioxidants as well as being fat free and full of fibre.

Almonds: full of good fats that help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Desiccated coconut (although photographed with coconut chips): contains fibre and iron, and also adds a great flavour!

Blueberries: another fruit filled with antioxidants, as well as containing tons of Vitamin C.

Chia seeds: extremely nutritious- filled with antioxidants, fibre, protein, high in omega 3 fatty acids and much more!

Granola: ideally this would be homemade granola as shop-bought usually contains a ton of added sugar but I’ve yet to accomplish homemade so I just used what I had to hand! This makes the bowl more filling for breakfast and also has some more health benefits from the nuts and seeds that it contains.

So that’s the complete “acai” bowl recipe! A delicious ‘smoothie bowl’, great for breakfast or as an afternoon snack and filled with countless health benefits!

I hope you all enjoyed, if you try out this recipe please send me a photo on twitter or instagram (@poppyonpaper) and feel free to leave comments with your favourite healthy breakfast ideas or any thoughts for future blog post ideas down below!

Poppy x