Smoothies are the drinks of choice for health enthusiasts around the world. The thick shake - made with milk and yoghurt, along with fruit or vegetable purées - comes loaded with a lot of essential nutrients. It can also be consumed as a whole meal in itself. Besides being healthy, low in calories, and nutritious, smoothies are super convenient, quick, and easy to make.
All you need to do is wash and peel fresh fruits and vegetables, and blend them along with milk of your choice, some gut-friendly yoghurt and a natural sweetener of your choice. Vegans can opt for coconut milk or almond milk as well. If you want to increase the amount of particular nutrients in your diet, you may choose to add these to your smoothie as well. For instance, a supplement powder as prescribed by a certified nutritionist. Or top it up with nuts and dried fruits, seeds and so on.
Besides, smoothies can be quite aesthetically pleasing as well. Imagine a melange of colourful and vibrant fruits, blended together with milk or curd, topped with your choice of seeds, sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Smoothie bowls are, in fact, quite the rage on social media. Beautifully plated smoothie bowls have a separate fan base among millennials, especially since they have now started making appearances at juice bars and healthy food restaurants as well.
Image: Shutterstock
Not only do smoothie bowls look absolutely vibrant but they are wholesome and yummy. Did you know you can put a smoothie bowl together at home as well for breakfast? All you need is a grain of creativity and a willingness to make your diet more colourful and healthy. Here we have some amazing smoothie bowl recipes, straight from the kitchen of Drunken Monkey, that you can try at home for your next morning meal.
1. Red Sunflower Smoothie Bowl
An exquisite bowl with the goodness of beetroot along with a tang of pineapple and crunch of pomegranate.
Ingredients:
1 cup pineapple
½ cup beetroot
½ cup pomegranate
1 cup chikoo
1 cup banana
1 cup apple
1 cup coconut milk
1 spoon sunflower seeds (for topping)
Method:
1. Blend all the ingredients together to a fine consistency that isn’t too thick nor too thin.
2. Top with sunflower seeds and serve chilled.
Image: Drunken Monkey
2. The Emperor’s Mango Smoothie Bowl
A regal bowl of smoothie with the ‘king of fruits’, it’s perfect for the summer season.
Ingredients:
1 cup mango
1 cup apple
1 cup chikoo
1 cup coconut milk
½ cup banana
A handful of kiwi slices (for topping)
½ spoon basil seeds (for topping)
Method:
1. Blend all the ingredients together to a fine consistency that isn’t too thick nor too thin.
2. Top with kiwi slices and basil seeds, and serve chilled.
3. Dry Fruit Smoothie Bowl
A wholesome bowl from the Sahara desert, this dry fruit smoothie is packed with the goodness of dates, figs, and nuts.
Ingredients:
2 tsp dates
2 tsp figs
1 ½ tsp cashews
1 ½ almonds
1 cup apple
1 cup chikoo
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup banana
½ tsp granola (for topping)
½ tbsp pumpkin seeds (for topping)
Method:
1. Chop dates, figs, cashews, and almonds together.
2. Blend the mix with the fruits and coconut milk.
3. Top with granola and pumpkin seeds, and serve chilled.