Veggie Boost Smoothie Bowl

We’re all told we should be eating more vegetables – but how many portions of vegetables do you usually eat for breakfast? For me, with my love of a sweet brekkie, the answer is generally none. As much as I love things like fry-ups and scrambles – I definitely prefer them as a brunch option and instead get my healthy breakfast fix with overnight oats, smoothie bowls and porridge. These are always packed with antioxidant-rich fruits and healthy fats – but could they work with veggies too?

I wasn’t really keen on the idea of a savoury smoothie bowl (how would that work – like a cold thick soup???) so I decided to use a naturally sweet veggie – sweet potato – and one whose flavour could be easily disguised – cauliflower. I swirled in just a little fruity sweetness in the form of a frozen banana – and the rest came from superfood powders lucuma and maca, and vanilla – no need for any sugar or sweeteners! I rounded out the flavour with cashew butter and flaxseed for extra nutritional goodness and tastiness.

The result was incredible – a thick and smooth bowl of goodness which reminded me of pumpkin pie and caramel – and that just can’t be a bad way to start the day!

NB: If you are concerned about calories, you could try reducing the amount of cashew butter in the bowl – but the result might not be so caramel-ly. I figure I would usually put a good blob of cashew or almond butter on top anyway, so in this case I am just choosing to incorporate it instead! 🙂

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large sweet potato, cooked, peeled and mashed (I bake mine for extra sweetness!)
• ⅓ cup/90g cashew butter
• 1 cup/250ml almond milk
• 1 Tbsp maca powder
• 1 Tbsp lucuma powder
• 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from one pod)
• 1 cup/100g frozen cauliflower
• 1 large banana, cut into chunks and frozen

METHOD

1. Mix the sweet potato mash and cashew butter until completely combined (be careful not to taste this mixture or you may be tempted to snarfle the lot!).
2. Put this mixture – along with all the other ingredients except the cauliflower and banana – in a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Gradually add the cauliflower and banana, keeping blending until completely incorporated. Add a little milk if your blender is not powerful enough to cope with the thick mixture.
4. Divide between two bowls and add toppings – fresh and dried fruits, homemade granola, nuts, seeds and cacao nibs all work great.
5. Enjoy!