The Sprouted Kitchen (Bowl + Spoon) + Tropical Smoothie Bowl

I’m back with another cookbook review–The Sprouted Kitchen (Bowl + Spoon), accompanied by a delicious Tropical Smoothie Bowl recipe at the bottom! :D

The Sprouted Kitchen – Bowl + Spoon | simple and inspired whole foods recipes to savor and share

Just so we’re clear, please don’t mistake the “Sprouted Kitchen” part for a cookbook of entirely raw recipes, or you will be rather disappointed. Sprouted Kitchen is the name of Sara’s food blog (which also contains a wealth of amazing-lookin’ recipes).

Sara’s philosophy on food is to cook meals that are “made in their most original state to avoid excess sugars, chemicals, and preservatives.”

She includes a section in the beginning on “building a kitchen to cook in”–it makes me a little sad that I only have about 50% of what she lists in this section, but you know what? Someday when I grow up, I won’t be moving around every couple months and I’ll get to have a house with a ginormous kitchen with counter space and lots of counter space. (One can dream. Don’t you dare dull my sparkle.)

There’s also a section on building a “whole foods pantry,” where she also includes a discussion on her take on whole foods, and one on her thoughts on options for sweeteners, oils and fats, vinegars and salts, and other pantry staples. The inside back cover includes some handy measurement conversion charts, which I thought was a nice touch!

Written by Sara Forte / Photography by Hugh Forte

Genre: Cookbook
Pages: 226

I liked reading about her cooking journey, and how she came to making this cookbook, which celebrates all things bowl-related.

My specialty, per se, is food in a bowl–combinations of vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, big salads–texture and flavor that go together to make a simple, nutritious meal that makes sense composed in one vessel.”

And she’s not kidding either! The recipes in Bowl + Spoon are divided into 5 different sections, which are listed as follows (as per usual, I’m including a couple that sound awesome to me from each so you’ll get a good idea of what’s in it!):

Morning Bowls

• Flourless Stone Fruit Breakfast Crumble
• Cabbage, Fennel, and Apple Slaw with Smoked Salmon Toasts
  
• Homemade Ricotta

Side Bowls

• Baby Potato and Asparagus Tangle with Green Harissa and Eggs
• The Last Meal Salad
  
• Spanish Chopped Salad with Walnut Paprika Vinaigrette

Big Bowls

• Ahi Poke Bowls <33333333
  
• Carribean Bowl with Jerk-Seasoned White Fish and Tropical Fruit Salsa
• Hippie Bowl

Sweet Bowls

• Cocoa Nib Pavlovas with Mixed Berries
  
• Key Lime Eton Mess
• Mixed Berry Tiramisu
  

Dressing and Sauces

• Maple Balsamic Dressing
  
• SK Sriracha (how to make your own rooster sauce!)
• Thai Lemongrass Sauce

I really like Sara’s take on healthy eating, as I’ve never been a fan of all-out restrictions when it comes to eating (food is one of my great joys in life). With 82 different recipes and page after page of gorgeous food photography, I definitely think Bowl + Spoon is an awesome one to add to your collection, especially if you like looking at pretty pictures of food while you’re at it!

The warm weather is making it possible for me to enjoy smoothie bowls once more, so I’m sharing an adapted version of Sara’s Tropical Smoothie Bowl with you! :] Adapted because as always, I’m trying to use stuff up and also because, much as I love em’, macadamia nuts are expensive.

I’d totally eat this for any meal of the day, but this can be found in her “Morning Bowls” section. :]

Tropical Smoothie Bowl

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen mango
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
• 1/4 cup coconut water
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp turmeric (optional)
• 1 banana, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup trail mix
• 1/3 cup toasted coconut chips
• 1/3 cup toasted chopped walnuts

Instructions:

1. Blend the frozen mango + pineapple, coconut water, orange juice, coconut milk + turmeric until very smooth. Distribute into two bowls.
2. Slice the banana and garnish each bowl with banana slices, cereal, coconut flakes and nuts.

• What’s your favorite thing to throw in a smoothie bowl?