Acai Bowls - Healthy Vegan Fridays

**Linking up to Healthy Vegan Fridays this week with a fast, easy summer meal!**

Living in California means that I am very up-to-date on the latest hipster health and foodie trends.  I've seen the kabocha squash phase, the chia seed craze, the brief foray into offal and bacon (blech!!), and the kale revival.  San Francisco hipsters love to find a "superfood" from another culture and promptly overhype it, jack up the price and eat it at every meal.

The latest mainstream superfood is the acai berry from Brazil.  This is mostly seen in the form of the acai bowl, which is the newest breakfast craze.  Which is basically a smoothie in a bowl topped with granola, fruit and other goodies.

Me at Samba Rock Cafe in Santa Cruz

Alleged health benefits, according to Samba Rock.

How to eat it! 

From Vitality Bowls in Redwood City

Acai bowls are so simple, but I was intimidated to try making them at home.  That was silly of me- they are so simple and come together in ten minutes!  

The nice part about acai bowls is that, in my opinion, the acai part is optional.  If you can't get your hands on the special berry, substitute blueberries and you're still down to clown.

Basic Acai Bowl (Serves Two)

1/2 cup milk (I use vanilla soy)

1 frozen banana

1 packet frozen acai (or sub 1/3 cup frozen blueberries)

3/4 cup frozen strawberries (or any combo of strawberries plus raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.)

Combine everything in a food processor or high speed blender until smooth. the mixture should be very thick.  Layer with granola (I make my own) and fruit in a bowl, and gobble up!

The brand of frozen acai I use.

Keep it nice and thick like ice cream!

Layer 1: fruit and granola

Layer 2: acai smoothie

Layer 3: toppings! I used granola, bananas, strawberries, blueberries and a dollop of peanut butter.

Here's out breakfast this morning; this recipe makes two regular sized servings, or one small serving and one jumbo serving if you're a pair like us.  You can top it with whatever you like; a dollop of nut butter is a delicious addition.  I actually prefer mine with just peanut butter and bananas, but that looks boring so for this tutorial I added in more fruit to keep it colorful.

His and hers acai bowls.

None for Pups, but I did toss him some fruit while I was chopping, so he was a happy camper.

Ready and waiting in case a rogue banana slice drops on the floor.

These aren't just for breakfast- they are great for any time you want a light meal!  We don't have air conditioning, so these bowls are becoming a quick and easy dinner on days where it's just too hot to cook.