Healthy Breakfast Bowl – Açaí

Açaí (pronounced Ahh…Sigh….E) is like a slightly thicker smoothie in a bowl which you eat instead of drink.

I only recently jumped onto the Acai bowl bandwagon.  After sampling a few delicious but costly breakfast bowls I decided to make my own.

I’m sure you’ve seen Acai pop up places here and there and maybe wondered what this mysterious name is all about.  Actually it has been around forever.  When I lived in Brazil I was lucky to find out about super fruits such as this along with Guarana and Acerola which were foreign to me at the time.  It just took longer for a lot of North Americans to find out.

Açaí is a palm tree from South American that produces these small edible blackish-purple berries which are loaded with antioxidants (similar to blueberries) with many potential health benefits.  They also deliver good-for-you fats and fiber, making them an overall generally healthy food.

Because of global demand for the berries, the tree is now cultivated for this purpose.  Unfortunately you won’t be able to find fresh berries. Quality products are shock frozen right after harvesting to preserve as many nutrients as possible. Also, you shouldn’t find any additives or sweeteners in it.  I recently bought a bag of frozen unsweetened organic acai  puree (four packets in one bag) at Trader Joes for less than $5.  Apparently it’s easy to find them at your local health food store.

INGREDIENTS for one:

1 package (100g) unsweeteted Acai puree, frozen

1/2 cup of your favorite granola or muesli (with nuts, raisins and seeds)

½  banana

1 cup mixed fresh fruit

1/2 cup goat milk *kefir (or yogurt)

½ cup coconut milk (optional)

1 tablespoon honey

Sprinkling of cinnamon (I also added some roasted cocoa nibs and extra unsweetened coconut chips).

Take the packet of frozen Acai and run it under warm water for a few minutes, then break it up into a bowl.  Or if you have a blender like a Vitamix you can put it directly into that either alone or with some coconut water or milk, then stir and put into your bowl.

Then add granola, fruit and toppings.  That’s it!

You can thank me later

*Kefir is a fermented milk drink similar in look and taste to a thin yogurt that is made with a yeast and bacterial fermentation starter of kefir grains.  The drink originated in Eastern Europe and Russia.  Goat Kefir is supposed to be easier on digestion.

I’ve been using Kefir instead of yogurt in smoothies for over a year now.