Dessert for breakfast? Don’t mind if I do.
In collaboration with Gayatri Sakhuja from ‘The Dessert Project’.

I have loved smoothie bowls since I was introduced to them at a cafe in Ubud a few years ago. Impeccably presented, decadent, healthy and delicious- smoothie bowls have become a huge health food trend. Put simply, its a deconstructed smoothie in a bowl with all the toppings. You can be as creative or crazy as you want with the toppings and you will find a lot of inspiration and recipes on instagram if you search #smoothiebowls. See, what I mean?

I met Gayatri Sakhuja of the The Dessert Project a few months ago and found out that she was an incredible baker and a magician with her photographs. Gayatri is a Delhi based freelance digital marketing strategist who recently quit her job. She started her blog in 2015 and has won a really loyal audience that looks forward to her recipes and creations on Instagram and Facebook. Head over to her instagram account and prepare to drool. She and I hit it off and decided we wanted to collaborate. It was an unforgiving summer Monday and I went over to her place to create, shoot and eat smoothie bowls for you guys.

While we were shooting, we came up with the idea to create three different smoothie bowls using different ingredients for variety and the antioxidant boost. Although, these can be made with any dairy free milk like rice, oat, coconut or almond – we have chosen to make them with unsweetened almond milk. Avocados make a great, decadent and rich base to the smoothie bowls but we’ve used frozen bananas for ours because they are easy to buy and economical. For those of you trying to eat breakfast without any dairy, this is right up your alley because the almond milk contains absolutely no hormones, preservatives, chemicals or antibiotics like regular cows milk. You can buy organic unsweetened almond milk or make your own.

Anyway, I digress… A lot of you might have noticed that I had these pretty regularly for breakfast or dessert in the winter so I am sharing the recipes for all three with you.

Wildberry Smoothie bowl:
Ingredients-

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 1/2 frozen banana (chopped)
A handful of frozen strawberries
A handful of frozen blackberries
Pinch of cinnamon
Dash of Vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut oil (optional)
Honey (optional)
Directions-
Blend all the ingredients in a blender or vitamix. Pour into a bowl and add toppings of your choice. We recommend fresh blackberries, strawberries, shredded coconut and almond slivers. If you don’t have fresh berries you can use frozen berries but make sure they are organic and unsweetened.

Chocolate Smoothie bowl:
Ingredients-
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa or raw cacao powder
1/4 ripe avocado
1 1/2 frozen ripe banana
1 tsp flax seeds
honey (optional)
Directions-
Blend all the ingredients in a blender or vitamix until it is smooth. We recommend that you add the bittersweet chocolate chips, dessicated coconut, walnut bits, fresh cherries and a tiny bit of nougat. Life is short guys, you’ve gotta be able to enjoy some treats without feeling guilty about it. You can choose to omit the nougat and add paleo granola or some seeds but I highly recommend that you indulge and savour each mouthful.

Green Goddess Smoothie bowl:
Ingredients-
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 – 3 spinach leaves
1 – 2 tsp super green powder
1 tsp cold pressed coconut oil
1/4 avocado
1 frozen banana
1/3 cup cut pineapple
honey (optional)

Directions-
Blend all the ingredients in a blender or vitamix until it is smooth. We recommend that you add diced mango, pineapple, dessicated coconut, chia or flax seeds, fresh figs. Remember the options here are endless and you could create a unique recipe for a smoothie bowl every day for a few months without worrying about repeating them or boredom. So go ahead and have fun with it.

Tips on making the healthiest smoothie bowls-
Try and stick to low GI fruits like berries, grapefruit
Sprinkle some chia, flax, hemp or sesame seeds to meet your daily quota of Omega 3, protein and calcium
Use unsweetened almond milk and sweeten the smoothie bowl with stevia, agave or coconut sugar. I try and avoid any sweetener at all.
If you want to make a veggie dominant green smoothie bowl, you can add some supergreen powder or chlorella, spirulina and blue-green algae. Remember less is more here and a little bit goes a long long way. Please check with your doctor before having these regularly if you have auto immune issues or a thyroid problem since a lot of these supplements contain iodine.
You can make it healthier by adding 1/2 a ripe avocado, adding supergreen powder and sprinkling some nuts and seeds I also like to use a tsp or tbsp of cold pressed coconut oil or MCT oil for the good fats and to boost satiety.

Have a look at this fun stop motion video that Gayatri created that afternoon here

Remember to not go overboard with the fruit if you are watching your weight or have candida (ill discuss that in another post). Have fun experimenting with recipes and the toppings and these make great breakfasts that will make everyone on your Instagram drool. They can be tweaked and made healthy and delicious enough to have as a meal, mid meal snack or as dessert. I’d say you get right to the kitchen and start making some today.
Bon Appetit!

Read more about Gayatri Sakhuja here
Check out her incredible instagram feeds @thedessertproject & @gayatris
Photo Credits- Gayatri Sakhuja
Location Courtesy- Gayatri’s beautiful home

Read Gayatri’s post on her blog here