We live in a city, Costa Mesa, with a bazillion fun little restaurants and food joints. Within 3 miles we have more Italian, Mexican, sushi, pizza, and bbq places then I can count. And none of them are chains, all mom and pop friendly neighborhood eating establishments. It makes my foodie heart sing…

The newest place that we frequent is called Banzai Bowls. It is essentially a thick smoothie in a LARGE bowl with loads of fruit, granola and honey. The fruit base they use is the Acai berry from Sambazon. That is the base for all the bowls, and then from there they diversify: peanut butter, coconut, kiwi, goji berries, spinach, celery, etc… Simple yes. But UNBELIEVABLY good and refreshing.

I just noticed my reflection in the spoon. Oh geez, this whole ‘photography’ thing is, ahhh, way over my head sometimes!

I could eat it every meal of the day and be so happy! The 2 downsides:

1. it is EXPENSIVE for a freaking ‘smoothie’ $6-$10. DANG! I know it is a meal, but still, I don’t want to pay that much when I can do it myself.

2. it takes FOREVER for them to make a smoothie, even if you are the only one in their 9which you never are).

Conclusion, I will make myself a smoothie bowl to save some $$$ and time. This has become a go-to meal for us when I want something light, healthy and refreshing. There isn’t any dairy, so no bloating for my belly (oh man do dairy and my stomach have an ongoing HATE relationship).

You can replace the water with milk, juice or soy milk. I just did water to see what would happen, it ended up perfect! Add a drizzle of honey or agave on top for some extra sweetness.

Smoothie Base
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/ cup water
2 large handfuls spinach

Topping
1 large strawberry, halved then sliced
1 kiwi, skin removed and sliced
1/4 banana, sliced
1/2 cup granola

Add the smoothie ingredients to a blender and blend! It with be tough to blend because it is so thick, help it out by CAREFULLY using a spoon. I wasn’t as careful and ended up with a faceful of smoothie because the blade caught the spoon and splattered, SUPER, blueberry in my hair.

Pour the smoothie into a bowl and add the toppings, enjoy immediately.