Acai Bowl, Hold the Acai

Another hot day, and another walk at the beach. Tough life, huh? Today I even got a bonus: breakfast afterward with my friend Jen. She took me to a place in downtown Encinitas, which has kind of an urban-chic-hippie vibe, if you know what I mean.

We were hot and thirsty and an omelet just sounded like too much. Jen suggested the Acai bowl so I gave it a go. But what the heck is Acai? According to Google, Acai berries come from a palm tree, and they're about the size of grapes. They are too perishable to sell at the grocery store, so they are frozen and imported, and they have tons of antioxidants. Jen's definition varies slightly: "This is Encinitas. Just eat it."


The dish consisted of granola in the bottom of the bowl, with an Acai smoothie poured over, and fresh fruit and coconut on top. It was just the thing. The Acai was liquidy but still freezy (can you guess that I write for a living?) and it was so good and filling that when I was finally hungry again six hours later, I craved it.

So what else to do but invent my own version:

Janet's Acai Bowl (Hold the Acai)
1/2 cup homemade granola
1 cup smoothie (use your favorite recipe or mine)
1/2 cup fresh diced fruit
A little coconut as a garnish if you like it
Put the granola in the bottom of the bowl. Pour smoothie over, add fruit, and top with coconut. Yummers!

Berry Smoothie
1/2 cup frozen berries (I used strawberries and blueberries)
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup strawberry yogurt
Whirl it up in the blender but keep it pretty loose so it'll pour over the granola.