Tag: Acai

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Breakfast Recipes

Summer Fruit & Nut Acai Bowl

I’m home from my trip to France, to find that a spell of warm sunny weather may have finally arrived in the UK.

Reminded of the climate we enjoyed on our trip to Australia in the spring, I decided it was time to bring out the Acai powder I brought back in my suitcase, to make an Aussie-style smoothie bowl. Here it is, shown in my photo above, glinting in the British breakfast time summer sun.

We found Acai Bowls to be a popular choice in cafes and takeaway joints wherever we went in Australia. The Acai is usually served with combinations of cereal, fresh fruit and nuts (check out my earlier post on the crazy, yet delicious, peanut butter-infused option I enjoyed in Melbourne).

Acai (pronounced ah – sa – ee) is a dark purple berry grown in Brazil. It is rich in antioxidants, fibre and healthy fats, and believed to support heart health and cognitive function, while being low in sugar and calories. It tastes great, with a flavour reminiscent of dark chocolate, berries and red wine. It is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

The berries do not travel well, so outside of Brazil they are sold in pulp form or as powder. I bought a pack of powder from Coles Supermarket in Melbourne, where it was available on the shelf, in several varieties. I have seen it in specialist health food shops here in the UK, but it is nowhere near as mainstream as it is Down Under.

For my Acai Bowl, I blended a tablespoon of Acai powder with two bananas and 3 tablespoons of Greek natural yoghurt. After a minute or so in the blitzer, it forms a thick purple cream that can then be poured on to cereal and topped with fresh fruit. This made enough for 2 Acai Bowls.

I poured it on to muesli and added some fresh strawberry that is grown locally. Just like Cristiano Ronaldo, the blueberries and kiwi are from Portugal. The crowning touch is some toasted brazil nuts, with a sprinkling of pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

It is the time of year to relax outside in the sun listening to good music on my ear buds. This week I’ve been revisiting an old playlist featuring The White Stripes, having forgotten how good they sound. Here they are with The Hardest Button to Button.

Categories
Blog Desserts Snacks

Peanut Butter Acai Bowl

Is it a peanut butter Christmas tree? A model of Mount Everest sculpted out of chocolate ice cream, perhaps?

Understandable, if that’s what you’re guessing is in my photo above. You’d be wrong, however – it is in fact an Acai Bowl. I bought this at the Drip Bar in Melbourne. The purply-chocolatey coloured acai is topped with fresh banana, crushed cacao, coconut, ground almonds, granola and a drizzle of peanut butter.

Some of you will be very familiar with acai, and some may never have heard of it. Acai (pronounced ah – sa – ee) is a berry that is produced in Brazil. It is rich in antioxidants, fibre and healthy fats, and believed to support heart health and cognitive function, while being low in sugar and calories. It is also suitable for vegetarians and vegans. It therefore ticks all the boxes to be called a surefire superfood.

What’s more, it tastes really good! At the risk of sounding like some sozzled sommelier, I would describe the taste as having dark chocolate tones, with deep red wine and a hint of blueberries. When you hear that description, it’s hard not to at least give it a try.

In the UK, my experience is that acai is still mainly the preserve of specialist juice bars and health food shops. An internet search reveals that there are slightly more outlets than I was aware of, but it is still nowhere near the mainstream in the way it is here in Australia. Most towns have a cafe or takeaway in the high street selling a variety of acai bowls, with chains established for the purpose, such as Oakberry and Yo-Chi.

As far as I understand, the acai is blended with chopped banana and yoghurt (or coconut milk for a non-dairy version), giving it a rich texture with a beautiful purplish colour. It is eaten ice cold, swirled in a bowl, looking like ice cream or sorbet with toppings added. Fresh fruit is most common, while sprinkling over granola or muesli makes it an option for breakfast.

A danger with acai bowls is that the base is topped up with treats high in sugar or non-healthy fats, that cancel out the health benefits of the acai itself. However, this doesn’t need to be a problem as long as the toppings (such as a good quality peanut butter) are added with thought and moderation.

The berries do not travel well, so outside of Brazil they are sold in pulp form or as powder. I have bought a pack of powder from Coles Supermarket, where it was available on the shelf, in several varieties. I will be taking it home to make some acai bowls of my own. I also have an idea to sprinkle some into the mix when baking, to make blueberry and acai muffins. Watch out for future posts!

Due to its health benefits, great look and taste, I feel it is only a matter of time before more of us are eating acai as part of a normal diet. Do let me know, via the comments below, if you have tasted acai, and what you thought of it. I am interested to hear how readily it can be found and eaten in your part of the world.

Here’s a Melbourne band that was recommended to me by the assistant in a cool vinyl records shop and cafe in the Hawthorn district of the city (a big shout-out to Alley Tunes). This band play experimental electronic music, and go by the name of Big Yawn. Here they are with Ragazzo.