Can we talk about smoothie bowls? I am a fan of smoothies, especially green smoothies and as much as I love all the amazing photos of smoothie bowls I've seen on Instagram I have been sitting on the fence. I mean they look so beautiful but they are huge! Seriously big, so much so that some of them are coming in on the high side when it comes to calories, I'm talking about over 600 calories for some that I've looked at. Now this is ok, but if you are watching your calorie intake then it becomes a bit of a problem because you think you are being really healthy and you are, but you are also getting over a third and sometimes half (oh yeah!) of your daily calories in just one meal. Something to consider I think.
The other thing that had me on the fence about smoothie bowls was the thought of using a spoon to eat something I normally drink from a glass. However I am no longer on the fence, I tried them and I have to say I really like them, in fact, I may just be converted! Normally when I have a smoothie for breakfast I sometimes feel like I haven't had breakfast at all, maybe it's because it's in a glass, I don't know but when I tried these green smoothie bowls I actually didn't feel like that! The reason for this is the fruits, seeds etc added in it their full form and I am actually chewing food. Result! So these green smoothie bowls are small and come in at about 330 calories per bowl including the toppings listed. Not bad right? These are really flexible so play around with your toppings, granola is good too, just watch out for the calorie content when deciding what to add.
These green smoothie bowls are:
- High in Vitamin C
- High in Vitamin A
- High in Fiber
- Gluten Free
- Vegan
- No added sugar
Green Smoothie Bowls
Ingredients
- 150 g baby leaf spinach washed
- 100 ml of water
- ½ a medium avocado roughly chopped
- 1 small frozen banana
- 200 g fresh pineapple cut into chunks
- 1 heaped tbsp of peanut butter (no added sugar/salt peanut butter)
Toppings
- 2 tablespoon mixed seeds (flax, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
- 1 kiwi
- 10 raspberries
- 10 blueberries
- ½ a banana , sliced
Instructions
- Place the spinach and water in a blender, blend until liquid.
- Add the banana, pineapple, avocado and peanut butter and blitz until smooth.
- Serve immediately with toppings.
- If you feel you need it a little sweeter add a teaspoon of honey.
Nutrition
Eun
I would have to do a lot of tweaking to this recipe. While it is beautiful, the carb load is over my total meal amount. I'm diabetic. You lost me@ frozen banana! Any suggestions on how to make this more diabetic-friendly?
Michelle Alston
Hi Eun, thanks so much for your comment. Please bear in mind that I am not a dietician and I have to say that you should seek more advice from your registered dietician or doctor. That being said you can easily omit the banana from this recipe, it will still be thick and smooth because of the avocado. In general more veggies and less fruit will make for a lower sugar content, fruits with a lower gi would be also work e.g. apples, berries. You could play around a lot with this recipe if you want, low fat greek yogurt is also great in smoothies as is unsweetened almond milk. I hope my answer has been helpful to you, do let me know how you get on, Michelle x
Nancy Lui
What is the purpose of adding peanut butter? Is there any substitute?
Michelle Alston
Hi Nancy, I love peanut butter and I use it as an added source of protein. You could sub in a seed butter like sunflower seed butter if you like x
Esther
Beautiful! And I'm right there with on the size of some smoothie bowls. Yes, they are healthy, but they can be hugely calorific and far too full of sugar. Great point on the portion control. Thanks.
Michelle Alston
Thanks so much Esther 🙂
Andrea Wyckoff
I love green smoothie bowls! And this one is sooo pretty!! Your photos are just beautiful!
Michelle Alston
Thank you so much Andrea 🙂
Lisa
Such a lovely photo! It makes me want to eat the screen!
Michelle Alston
Oh, thanks so much Lisa 🙂
Raymund
Beautiful colors! Looking at the ingredients I think I am gonna love this too!