Show yourself some love & mix up delicious Smoothie Bowls for Valentine’s Day!
You are smooth[ie] operators 😉
I absolutely love boxes of chocolates and candy hearts, but as the most romantic day of the year approaches, I still want to eat some nutritious food that satisfies my sweet tooth! Cue the Smoothie Bowl this Valentine’s Day.
I love smoothie bowls as thick as Beyoncé, topped with various superfoods, and delicious as dessert.
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I combined my love for scoopable smoothie bowls, nutritious food, and delicious flavors to present the Healthy Berry Valentine’s Day Smoothie Bowl!
Here are tips for making a THICK smoothie bowl:
- Use frozen fruit. If you are only fresh produce, put it in the freezer and wait 1-2 hours. This works best if your fruits and vegetables are overripe or even overripe.
- For a consistency you can eat with a spoon and cover with topping that doesn’t soak into your base, use LESS liquid. You can add more gradually while blending if needed, but start with a 1:3 liquid-to-fruit ratio.
- Invest in a high-powered blender. Your old blender from the 70s probably doesn’t have the horsepower to blend a thick smoothie bowl. I recommend The Ninja Foodie SS101 Smoothie Bowl Make & Nutrient Extractor or some other “bullet” blender.
- Freeze some of your liquids in ice cube trays! I wouldn’t freeze the almond milk because it would separate.
- Add some nutritious ingredients that thicken your bowl – 1-2 tablespoons of protein powder, a handful of oats, flaxseeds or chia seeds, cream of coconut, avocado, beetroot powder or Spirulina are great ideas.
Balance Your Bowl
- Don’t make your smoothie bowl just fruit and granola- it’s lots of carbs and sugar without protein or fat!
- Add protein with protein powder in the base of your smoothie (plant protein powders tend to make your bowl thicker) & use soy or cow’s milk. I use Silk Ultra’s Unsweetened Vegetable Protein Drink!
- Include healthy fats (& texture!) with unsweetened grated coconut, nuts, but drizzle with butter, pepitas, & seeds.
- Be careful with honey or agave drizzles – they still count as added sugar.
A Bowl of Healthy Berry Valentine’s Day Smoothie
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of strawberry protein powder (I used Vegan Power Pro)
- 2/3 cup soy milk, separated (you can use any milk- milk and soy work best, I think)
- 1 cup frozen dragon fruit chunks
- 1 overripe frozen banana
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp ground flaxseed
- 1 tablespoon coconut milk
- Toppings: unsweetened coconut, pomegranate, strawberry, dragon fruit balls, raspberries, and dark chocolate core (cocoa nibs work too!)
Instructions
- In a high-powder blender, add the protein powder to 1/3 of the liquid and blend until combined.
- Add fruit, cocoa powder, flaxseed and coconut milk. Poor the rest of the milk and puree for 1-3 minutes.
- Assess the consistency and add more liquid as needed, but be patient! It takes time to make a thick bowl. You may need more than 2/3 cup but add 1-2 tablespoons at a time to prevent a runny consistency.
- Once you have achieved a smooth consistency, use a small spatula to scoop it into the bowl.
- Add your toppings and style your bowl
Make this smoothie bowl? We want to see! Share your masterpieces and tag us on Instagram @nutrition.awareness.
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Disclaimer: Some blog posts may contain one or more affiliate links. All opinions are my own.
Kait Richardson is a registered dietitian nutritionist in Orlando, FL. She is a partner in private practice, Nutrition Awareness, where she helps frustrated yo-yo dieters achieve their health goals using 1:1 nutrition coaching. She is the co-host of the Nutrition Awareness Podcast.