If I could only take one thing to a deserted island it would be a Rise n’ Shine Smoothie Bowl by Ashley Madden.
The first time I had a pitaya smoothie bowl, or sometimes spelled pitahaya, I was in Johnson City, Tennessee at the Java Juice House watching a dusting of snow fall. Pitaya is a dragon fruit probably coming from Mexico to California in my area. You can buy frozen dragon fruit. The directions basically have you make a smoothie. Then Renaissance Man bought me The Plant-Based Cookbook: Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free Recipes for Lifelong Health by Ashley Madden B.Sc. (Pharm), ACPR, C.H.N. I made the Rise n’ Shine Smoothie Bowl from Madden’s cookbook. The recipe is just as good as my first pitaya if not better.
Here is Ashley Madden’s recipe and then my variations.
RISE N’ SHINE SMOOTHIE BOWL
½ cup unsweetened almond milk
1 large frozen banana
1 heaping cup frozen mango or mixed berries
1 cup packed baby spinach
1 Tbsp. whole flax seeds
1 Tbsp. well-stirred almond butter
Pinch of cinnamon
Optional Toppings:
Chia seeds, goji berries, fresh berries, shredded coconut
Yield: 2 servings
Directions:
Add all the smoothie ingredients to a blender. Then divide the smoothie between two bowls and garnish.
The bowl with Wyman’s frozen triple berries comes out as a lavender or purple colored smoothie.
The light green smoothie is with frozen passion fruit.
The medium green smoothie is from me taking a fresh pitaya, peeling, dicing, and then freezing it overnight. I buy a yellow fruit with white flesh, which you can see the spinach will dominate the color of the smoothie. Fresh dragon fruit is my favorite. It will come out tasting like frozen yogurt. I can really taste the almond milk and almond butter. Right now a fresh dragon fruit is $19.99 a pound at my health food store so be on the lookout for a better price. Or you can buy the more affordable frozen dragon fruit with the hot pink flesh which will give you a hot pink smoothie.
All other smoothie bowls I have had at a restaurant put the nut butter on top. Simply blending it with the smoothie like Madden suggests makes a big yummy difference.
The toppings I usually use are a banana, blueberries, raspberries, dark chocolate chips, chia seeds, and coconut flakes. In the top photo I added agave syrup which is the old way I used to make the recipe. The recipe above doesn’t need any added sweetness, but sometimes I will add a Medjool date to the smoothie if I need to use the dates or just want the smoothie sweeter. Also, if I don’t have almond butter I use peanut butter. And I use flax seed meal since I can’t find the seeds.
I have collected healthy cookbooks through the years that capture the essence of a plant-based diet for a particular decade. Ashley Madden’s The Plant-Based Cookbook: Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free Recipes for Lifelong Health is the cookbook for our generation. Pick up her book at Amazon.
And if you’re in Tennessee check out Java Juice House.
Have fun making your smoothie bowl!
Happy Vegan!
Copyright 2022 Melissa Crismon
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