Blueberry dreams
An açaí bowl every now and then hasn't hurt anyone. Açaí is the famous Brazilian super berry that you've probably heard of. It is one of the most antioxidant-rich fruits in the world. With a sweet flavor and an intense violet color it contains an insane amount of vitamins and all the important omega fatty acids. Since açaí is very perishable, it's hard to get them fresh unless you find yourself in swamps and floodplains in the Northern parts of South America, which is where the açaí palmtrees like to grow. I often buy Sambazon's açaí juices which makes things easy, pouring a cup into my morning smoothie, though I've lately gotten around to also buying the frozen açaí pulp.
For a bowl like this, I mix a packet of frozen açaí pulp with bananas, plant milk and whatever fruit, greens and herbs I might have laying around and mix it up to a consistency thicker than smoothie. This one is topped off with some nice organic hazelnuts and kiwi.
Don't you just love eating health.... ? Doesn't hurt it's so damn beautiful either.
Whatever açaí you end up buying, look for a fair-traded one which guarantees fair pay and working conditions for local harvesters. As global demand for the fruit has expanded rapidly in recent years, so has also liberal application of pesticides and fertilizer which makes me think you might also rather choose organic than conventional.
If you can't get a hold on açaí or don't want to spend the extra money, why don't you use frozen organic blueberries? Similar taste and colour and the blueberry too is extremely high in anti-oxidants, minerals and vitamins. I love my blueberries. They always remind me of my beloved grandmother and our blueberry pickings in Swedish and Finnish forests when I was little.
Speaking of blueberries. When we arrived in the states almost two years ago, I was surprised to learn that your blueberries grow on large bushes and that they were grown commercially on blueberry farms. The blueberries we have back home in Scandinavia (you might call them billberries here) grow wild, they're much smaller, sweeter, have a complete purple/blue interior and not whitish like here in the US and they grow on small plants close to the ground. We pick them with a berry picker like this one. My grandmother used to make wonderful sweet blueberry juice, warm blueberry soup and lovely cakes out of our harvest. I still remember the warm, comforting smell that filled the kitchen as the boiling began.
Can not wait till we get to go back home and spend some time with my family in the Scandinavian forests. So many wonderful wild berries and food to find over there. Cloudberries, woodland strawberries, gooseberries, lingonberries to name a few.
If you can't get a hold on açaí or don't want to spend the extra money, why don't you use frozen organic blueberries? Similar taste and colour and the blueberry too is extremely high in anti-oxidants, minerals and vitamins. I love my blueberries. They always remind me of my beloved grandmother and our blueberry pickings in Swedish and Finnish forests when I was little.
Speaking of blueberries. When we arrived in the states almost two years ago, I was surprised to learn that your blueberries grow on large bushes and that they were grown commercially on blueberry farms. The blueberries we have back home in Scandinavia (you might call them billberries here) grow wild, they're much smaller, sweeter, have a complete purple/blue interior and not whitish like here in the US and they grow on small plants close to the ground. We pick them with a berry picker like this one. My grandmother used to make wonderful sweet blueberry juice, warm blueberry soup and lovely cakes out of our harvest. I still remember the warm, comforting smell that filled the kitchen as the boiling began.
Can not wait till we get to go back home and spend some time with my family in the Scandinavian forests. So many wonderful wild berries and food to find over there. Cloudberries, woodland strawberries, gooseberries, lingonberries to name a few.
