Tag: smoothies

Splendiferous

Many great stories begin with soup. Soup can soothe the soul, fortify the infirm, nourish the hungry, and uplift the cast down. It can be just about anything ladled into a bowl and eaten with a spoon; hot or cold, thick or thin, based on vegetables, fruits, nuts, noodles, or just straight cheese.

Splendid Spoon also begins, and ends, with soup. Founded on the healing principle of the bottomless bowl, it’s a plant‑based meal program that delivers ready-to‑eat brews, blends, and even bowls. Smoothies and grain bowls have joined the menu, but as the name would imply, soup is the main event here.

The menu rotates weekly, drawing seasonal inspiration to appeal to contemporary cravings. Warming chilis, congees, and stews through fall and winter, and lighter, cooler broths and blends become available in spring and summer. Many recipes appear in founder and CEO Nicole Centeno‘s book, Soup Cleanse Cookbook. For those of limited energy, patience, or ingredients, the full service affair is a godsend.

Kabocha Congee is the kind of a bowl you can curl up with, swaddled in your softest blanket and fuzzy slippers, to feel like all is right with the world. Brilliant sweetness that come as a surprise, all courtesy of the natural sugars inherent in both the squash and coconut milk. Creamy, deeply soothing, rich yet not heavy, it’s a remarkable study in balance. Subtle hints of cinnamon perfume the bowl, marrying beautifully with notes of pepper and a touch of nutmeg. Even better than the average rice stew, toothsome pumpkin seeds are scattered throughout, lending a hearty bite that fully satisfies all the senses.

Not to get hyperbolic, but the Green Split Pea Soup is nothing short of a revelation. Rather than the murky morass of over-boiled legumes, there are full, whole peas in here! Like oversized caviar, they burst in juicy bites, lending an air of luxury to this once humble stew. Easily the best rendition of the concept I’ve encountered to date, it’s fantastic enjoyed cold on a hot summer’s day, too.

Take your taste buds globe trotting with a stop in Italy and France for a bowlful of Garden Minestrone and Butternut Squash Ratatouille. Leaning into a tomato base with savory herb seasoning, the minestrone focuses in on zucchini and white beans, whereas the ratatouille, true to the name, is all about that orange autumn gourd. Happily, neither one taste out of season, appealing to the senses all year round.

Billed as one of the “light” brews, Fennel Consommé presents a zesty citrus-infused broth with softly simmered pieces of licorice-y fennel. An excellent appetizer or palate cleanser between courses, it sings of sunny spring days. You can practically taste the morning dew still clinging to those leafy fronds.

New to the lineup, the Mint Chip Smoothie is everything you want and need out of a creamy summertime treat. Part decadent dessert, part wholesome meal replacement, each verdant sip is loaded with fresh greens and cool peppermint flavor. Trust me, I’m very serious about my mint chocolate chip milkshakes, so it’s really saying something to rank this one so highly on the hit list.

The spice is right in the Carrot Ginger Chia Smoothie. Think “liquid carrot cake” and you wouldn’t be too far off. Bright ginger blends with the tropical notes of mango and banana to recreate a more fruit-forward rendition of the old-fashioned staple. Stay in the bakery department for a moment to drink deeply from the Pumpkin Spice Smoothie while you’re at it. Enriched with almond butter and defined by a heavy dose of cinnamon, each bottle contains all the taste of America’s favorite crusted wonder, without the stodgy pastry.

For a souped up menu or smooth moves to power you through the day, you can do no better than the convenience and comfort of Splendid Spoon. With nationwide delivery and free shipping, there’s never a bad time to drink it all in. Use the code “SAVE25NOW” to get $25 off your next order.

Hannah (BitterSweet)3 Comments

Take a Trip Down Candy Cane Lane

Crisp and clean, an invigorating icy sensation greets me right as the sun begins to awake from its slumber on this early December morning. No, it’s not a fluke snow storm visiting California for the first time in years, but a wintry treat hailing from the warmth of the kitchen.

While the threat of actual flurries strikes fear into my heat-seeking heart, the oral chill of peppermint is an entirely different story. Be it pungent and herbaceous or smooth and subtle, I can’t get enough of the flavor, particularly when Christmas rolls around with an endless supply of candy canes around every corner. Those brittle sticks of red and white striped sugar are never going to inspire a frenzied Instagram fad like some popular seasonal sweets, but they’ll always be an essential element of the holiday season.

It’s never too early to get into the spirit, so a light, bright, candy cane smoothie is just the ticket, no matter what the weather is outside!

Pairing up bananas and mint together may sound like disastrous blind date, but hear me out on this one. In their unripe state, those tropical fruits merely lend creaminess and body to the blend, without any discordant flavor. Mint is powerful enough to speak above the subtle undertones anyhow, so all you’ll get is pure, bright, peppermint power with every sip. With this fool-proof formula, there’s no reason why you can’t make every day a holiday.

Yield: 1 Serving

Candy Cane Lane Smoothie

Candy Cane Lane Smoothie

Pure, bright peppermint flavor rings clearly with every sip of this creamy blend. With this fool-proof formula, there’s no reason why you can’t make every day a holiday.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 Small Unripe Bananas, Frozen
  • 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Protein Powder
  • 1 Cup Non-Dairy Milk
  • 1 - 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup or Light Agave Nectar
  • 1/4 - 1/2 Teaspoon Peppermint Extract
  • 1 Tablespoon Beet Powder

Instructions

  1. Toss the frozen bananas, protein powder, non-dairy milk, 1 tablespoon syrup, and 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract into your blender. Puree until perfectly smooth, taste, and adjust sweetness and minty-ness to taste, as needed.
  2. Pour half of the mixture into a separate pitcher and set aside. Add the beet powder to the blender and puree to incorporate.
  3. Layer the two colors into a glass to create red and white stripes, gently stirring just before serving for a slightly marbleized effect. Add a straw and drink in that refreshing wintry goodness!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

1

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 600Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 157mgCarbohydrates: 114gFiber: 9gSugar: 78gProtein: 29g
© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: American / Category: Beverages

 

Hannah (BitterSweet)10 Comments

Smooth-Talker (With a Matcha Giveaway!)

Making the leap from blender to bowl, smoothies are no longer strictly liquid nourishment. Morning, noon, or night, it’s time to put away the straws and break out the spoons. Acai bowls paved the way for this natural evolution, but smoothie bowls are entirely unique creations, free from the constraints of the typical toppings or construction. Browse through Instagram for a few seconds, and you’ll see a full spectrum of colors, layers, textures, and sometimes even actual glitter fill your screen. These run the gamut from austere to more indulgent than chocolate custard, so as with most other edible art forms, the real struggle is finding a happy balance between the two.

Get Your Greens With Smoothie Bowls

For me, that means going green, but not in the predictable way. Kale, spinach, and collards alike are mainstays in my meals, but not in my blender. The green smoothie movement is one that i could never fully embrace, simply because I couldn’t rationalize adding ingredients that didn’t contribute positive flavors to the mix, but rather, unfavorable tastes that would need to be covered up or otherwise compensated for. Green is great, but when it comes to smoothies, matcha is always my favorite source.

Enthusiasts will agree that there’s no wrong way to enjoy this verdant powdered tea leaf, but many are missing out on matcha’s full flavor potential.

Different Grades of Matcha

Did you know that there are numerous different grades of the emerald superfood, which vary greatly in flavor and potency? Separated into three distinct categories, it may be difficult to suss out when it’s best to employ ceremonial matcha, culinary matcha, or any of the shades of green in between.

  • Contrary to my first naive assumption, it turns out that culinary matcha is not actually of lower quality, and in fact contributes a stronger tea flavor to baked goods, as it’s better suited to withstand the heat of the oven.
  • Ceremonial grades possess greater nuances, best to sip, savor, and carefully contemplate. Each one tells it’s own story, so carefully calibrated through every step of processing, that no two batches will taste precisely the same.

No matter how your brew or blend it up, green is always good when it means matcha!

Hannah (BitterSweet)19 Comments

Have Protein, Will Travel

In a food paradise as diverse and accessible as Honolulu, it seems like a crime to even consider packing the standard “emergency” food that covers the standard range of granola bars and protein shakes. Vegan options exist almost anywhere you go, even where you’d least expect it. That’s why I was surprised by just how handy my little packets of Amazing Meal, made by powdered greens-pusher Amazing Grass, proved to be in no time at all.

Compared to my non-existent activity level at home, walking miles across town every day felt like training for the Olympics. Even with my voracious appetite for eating out, trying new restaurants, and cooking as much exotic produce I could get my hands on, I still found my energy levels dipping severely come midday. Rather than relying the standard quick fix from a cup of coffee, the Cafe Mocha superfood blend was genuinely revitalizing, and without any jitters of course. The vaguely greenish hue is the only hint of the goodness packed within each glass. Trust me, I won’t willingly drink any swampy protein powders that can only be described as tasting healthy at best, and it was no struggle to drain my cup. Head and shoulders above most dried greens blends even when mixed with only cold water, the light cocoa flavor gives way to a hint of coffee, very gently sweetened to round out the flavors. No, it’s not something you would mistake for a decadent milkshake, but it’s far tastier than most healthy powdered drinks on the market. For a quick energy infusion on the go, I’m very grateful to have these slim packets in my bag, just in case.

Hannah (BitterSweet)17 Comments