Sure, purple acai bowls are nice, but playing with unfamiliar smoothie colors—especially for the holidays—can be really fun! Before you go reaching for those chemical-laden food dyes, opt for all-natural food coloring made from spirulina, a blue-green algae that provides essential nutrients including vitamins, minerals and proteins. This aquatic-looking dust will create a frosty, blue-gray backdrop for your festively fruity holiday scene.
Remember to use organic ingredients whenever possible (see the “dirty dozen” and the “clean 15”) and feel free to incorporate your own creativity! For example, here we stamped a small star-shaped cookie cutter into an apple slice to make a star—but you can totally use a pear, pineapple or even a starfruit slice!
You can also use goji berries for ornaments if de-seeding pomegranate isn’t your thing. Not into coconut? Use hemp seeds! The possibilities are endless.
Ingredients
3 ripe bananas, peeled & frozen
2 firm, ripe kiwis
1 scoop plant-based vanilla protein powder
1 round apple slice
1 small pomegranate, seeded
1 Tbsp. finely shredded coconut
2 Tbsp. Navitas Naturals Organic Golden Berries, chopped
1 tsp. Vitacost ROOT² Organic Maca Powder (optional)
1 Tbsp. blue spirulina (or 3/4 pkg. spirulina-based blue food coloring)
1/4 cup ice-cold water
Dash cinnamon
Directions
- Slice kiwi into rounds, then slice each round in half. Set aside
- In high-speed blender, combine bananas, protein powder, maca (if using), spirulina, cinnamon and water. Blend until completely smooth.
- Spoon mixture into bowl. Using spoon, smooth out top into flat surface.
- Arrange kiwi into Christmas tree shape. Either slice or stamp out star from apple slice. Place on top of tree. Decorate tree with pomegranate seeds and golden berries.
- Using fingers, sprinkle coconut on top. (Note: use food processor to grind up coconut shreds for a more convincing snowy effect.)
Additional tips:
- If you’d like to use nut milk in place of water for this delicious holiday treat, here are 6 dairy-free milk substitutes you can make yourself!
- This recipe calls for one apple slice to create the tree topper. This works best if you have a small star-shaped cookie cutter. Although not in season, if you can find a starfruit in your area, a starfruit works just a nicely.
