Acai Bowls

When we were in the North Shore part of Oahu, we saw acai bowls being sold everywhere. It seemed like every beach we went to and every road we drove on had a food truck or three parked nearby advertising “fresh fruit” and “Acai Bowls”. (Also, shrimp – but that’s another recipe/post for another day.) And every single one of them was super popular – crazy lines of hungry customers, not all of whom were tourists.

So it’s surprising that Dan and I did not eat a single acai bowl on vacation. I think we were too busy stuffing ourselves with kalua pork and poke and fried shrimp to eat anything so fresh and healthy as a bowl of pureed fruit with more fresh fruit on top. You guys, we were on vacation.

It wasn’t until we talked to Dan’s cousin-in-law (also mine, I guess?) that we really regretted passing up on all the acai bowls. She told us that they were basically all her brother/sister-in-law ate when they were in Hawaii, and they were the most delicious things they’d ever eaten. Partly because smoothie bowls are delicious in and of themselves, but mostly because fruit in Hawaii = extra delicious (duh).

Ironically, by the time Dan and I got around to wishing for some acai bowls of our own, we had stopped seeing them everywhere. Either we weren’t looking hard enough, or there just weren’t as many being advertised near the resorts/downtown area.

To make up for lost time, I decided to make us some acai bowls for breakfast this weekend. It was the easiest recipe ever – I basically added some acai powder to my favorite smoothie and substituted some of the fresh berries with frozen so that I could achieve a thicker, more soft serve-y texture, then poured that into a bowl, and topped everything off with fresh slice fruits + granola + shredded coconut.

Everything was done in 10 minutes, and the resulting breakfast was so delicious and satisfying – cold and fruity, creamy-smooth but with a wonderful crunch from the granola and nuts, sweet and tart fruits complementing each other in every bite. And of course it’s pretty healthy too – fiber and antioxidants and heart-healthy fats, oh my!

My favorite comment from Dan as he was spooning up the last bit of his acai bowl: “I think I can already feel this stuff cleaning out my digestive system.” So there’s that, too.

Acai or no acai, smoothie bowls may be our new favorite thing. They’re so easy, delicious, and can be customized any way we want depending on what we’re in the mood for that day. As it is, we already drink green smoothies almost every morning, so why shouldn’t we go the extra mile and have an extra special breakfast?

Actually, that reminds me that I saw a green smoothie bowl recently that looks amazing – will definitely have to try that next. Keep your eyes peeled for that recipe, down the road (in the very near future, probably).

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