Avocado and Spinach (or Kale) Green Smoothie Bowl
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About two months ago my husband and I decided to add more vegetables to our diet. We were already pretty good but felt we needed to jumpstart it. And thus, we joined the green smoothie craze!
Morning smoothies are not a new thing for me. My mom has made them, for as far as I can remember, every morning of my entire life. I always marveled, in both a good and a bad way, at what she could combine in a blender and then consume. But, two months ago, I found myself in the same situation: throwing fruits, vegetables, proteins, and liquids in a blender and seeing what came out.
The goal was to use what I had around, without really following any set recipe. I bought the “cheap section” produce that was bruised, misshapen, or older and combined that with what I had growing in the garden or foraged. It has been QUITE the learning experience. I have had smoothies that separated to the point where it was all fiber on the top and juice on the bottom that no amount of shaking, stirring, reblending could cure! But of course, I have also had ones that were awesome.
This past Saturday I made one of those. What was the revelation? Avocado! (combined with my previous trial and error revelation that slightly older bananas make every smoothie better…they are the one ingredient I consistently buy for them)
Ok, ok, I know this is nothing new. People have been adding avocado to smoothies for who knows how long and blogging about it. I on the other hand never read smoothie recipes online (part of me never believed I would ever get into this…), rarely keep up with trends, or thought it would ever be good. But I found myself with 3 very ripe avocados preparing to leave VERY early in the morning for a long hike and suddenly it seemed like a good idea.
Oh and it was. We downed those smoothies driving to the hike and they kept us going for hours of hard trekking. Look how high we climbed on just a smoothie and some rosemary roasted nuts as a snack (I am not joking when I say I make those ALL the time)!
This week I found myself with a whole lot of fresh berries and decided I wanted to transform that smoothie into a smoothie bowl! I know…way behind the trends again. Somehow I missed this whole smoothie bowl craze a year ago all over social media. Not sure how I did but I did and not gonna lie, they are kind of awesome. Super fast and nice to eat slower all morning than a smoothie. Oh man I might be on the smoothie bowl train now!
Avocado and Spinach Green Smoothie Bowl
Makes 1 LARGE (I could barely finish) bowl, 2 smaller bowls.
If you eat only half of this it is low fodmap friendly!
1 cup spinach (or kale or other leafy green, I usually use kale in the winter)*
1 banana**
½ avocado
2 teaspoons psyllium husk***
½ cup coconut milk (type doesn’t matter, I use full fat)
½ cup water
sweetener as desired (I don’t use any)
Optional: 1 tablespoon peanut butter
Ice cubes**
Toppings – whatever you want!
1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut
2 strawberries, sliced
8 raspberries
10 blueberries
1 tablespoon pepitas/shelled pumpkin seeds
(Julienned fresh mint and/or lemon balm is also awesome, I added those the second time I made this)
- Add banana, avocado, spinach, psyllium husk, coconut milk, and water (and sweetener if using) to a blender (or a bowl is using an immersion blender). Blend. Add ice cubes and more water if desired and blend until smooth.
- Slice strawberries and prepare other topping ingredients.
- Pour smoothie into bowl(s).
- Decorate as desired with toppings!
Notes:
These are the toppings I like but they change depending on what I have on hand. Experiment and have fun, this is my favorite part. And let’s be honest, who cares what the bowl actual looks like as long as it is delicious!
If I am eating this before or after a workout I will throw in some protein powder (I use a plain, non-flavored one). This increases the amount of water needed. You can also add 1 tablespoon of a nut butter or some tofu for extra protein. My preference for the bowl though is to just keep adding nuts to the top and crunching away. I love getting that texture difference in this bowl.
Of course you don’t need to use this recipe just as a bowl! Don’t put on toppings and it is a great smoothie recipe. This is pretty much the smoothie I make most mornings. I change up the avocado for different fruits depending on what I have.
* You can use any leafy green instead of spinach. I happen to have a lot right now because the garden is exploding (and I am so happy about it)! I have also used kale but my blender is ancient (it was my grandmothers and is more than 10 years older than I am…gotta be impressed with Waring blender longevity) and does not fully blend the kale leaves so it ends up with leaf chunks…though I wonder if I sharpened the blades it would work perfectly again.
* Don’t want to add ice and still have a cooler bowl? Add in a freeze that banana!
** Plain psyllium (seed) husk can be found in many bulk sections of stores. I have bought it in Whole Foods before. Metamucil works as well since it has psyllium husk, however it also has additional ingredients. You can also use flax seed. I use the husk as a way to thicken the smoothie a little and add additional fiber to my diet.
2 thoughts on “Avocado and Spinach (or Kale) Green Smoothie Bowl”
It’s probably not the blender’s fault that kale would not turn into a smoothie. Kale can be pretty tough. Tomatoes and cucumber would work, I bet, but not string beans.
By the way, your Mom never tried veggies. Might be a good idea. I wonder if purslane would work. Will let you know.
I was actually going to try purslane soon too! There is a ton coming up in my garden plot and I want to see how it goes. My only concern is that it is a thickener, so add extra liquid. Let me know if you try it.