I’m a self-described foodie, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not health conscious. Instead of trying and failing at my usual New Year’s Resolution to go on a diet and say no to the baguette, I decided to focus instead of re-learning the art of eating. My friend Larissa shared this Guardian article by Bee Wilson on re-thinking our culture’s disordered and obsessive relationship with food.
Wilson writes that “in today’s food culture, many people seem to have acquired uncannily homogenous tastes. ” Later, she goes on to say that “once we accept that eating is a learned behaviour, we see that the challenge is not to grasp information but to learn new habits… The point is that before you can become a carrot eater, the carrots have to be desirable.”
I’m on a quest to eat locally and healthfully — to integrate more fruits and vegetables into my diet without succumbing to the temptations of oil and butter.
I’m Kenyan-American, so I also grew up eating quite a bit of meat, especially red meat. However, as I think more about reducing my own carbon footprint and eating as many natural products as much as possible, I’ve pledged to Meatless Mondays and Wednesdays in solidarity with another of my dear friends, Emefa (My very traditional Kenyan father would probably be horrified if he read this post).
Enter my new smoothie and soup obsession.
One of the most popular Instagram trends these days is the smoothie bowl. My friend Mariah Amter of M’s Smoothies and Colorful Eats (@mamter) is at the forefront of that trend. I delight in the color of flavor of her gorgeous smoothie bowls.
I’m an amateur and I’m slowly learning how to make my smoothie bowls prettier, so you’ll have to forgive me on these first two attempts. I told you I’d be transparent about my trials and errors in recipe development on this food blog. Nigella Lawson wasn’t built in a day and neither was Jikoni.
According to Bon Appetit, a good smoothie bowl has five main components:
- The Base
- The Fruit/Vegetable
- The Crunch
- The Health Boosters
- The Sweetener
For the first bowl, my base was yogurt. Fruit: pineapple, passion fruit, mango, watermelon. Topping: desiccated coconut. I skipped the crunch and doubled up on my health booster, baobab. Sweetener: agave nectar.
For the second bowl, my base was almond milk. My fruits and vegetables were mango, cucumber, and banana. My topping was the sunflower seeds. My crunch? Tiger nuts. My health boosters were (you guessed it) baobab and moringa. And my sweeter was honey.
Let me know if you’ve got any ideas for a smoothie bowl!
