Weirdo Smoothie Bowl with Spirulina

What I eat for breakfast most days creates controversy wherever I go.

Many people think it looks awful (and say so), and among the few who have tasted it, some didn’t like it at all. Nonetheless, it’s what I’ve craved when it’s time for my first meal of the day, since about 1990, and I find it energizing, nourishing and slimming. I also noticed that my facial skin began looking smoother soon after I started eating spirulina regularly. So, on the off-chance that you, too, are a weirdo that likes spirulina smoothie bowls, here’s my recipe:

I like to prepare a large quantity of the powder ahead of time, and then use a 1/4 cup scoopful each morning. If you can’t find beet powder or stevia powder in your local natural foods store, they are easy to find online.

2 pounds protein powder (your choice of source)
8 ounces Hawaiian spirulina (for carotene, GLA, and a host of other nutrients)
8 ounces beet root powder (for iron, and to aesthetically counteract the green of the spirulina)
8 ounces roasted carob powder (to flavor it and further add to the illusion of chocolate-ness instead of algae-ness)
8 ounces stevia leaf powder (to sweeten it without carbs)
8 ounces lecithin granules (a brain food that makes the smoothie creamy)

Sift the first five ingredients through a sieve into a large bowl or pot, so there won’t be hard lumps in the smoothie. Beet root powder is particularly prone to this. Just keep stirring the powder and lumps around in the sieve with a wooden spoon, and after a while it will all go through. Last add the lecithin unsifted, as it will only gum up your sieve.

Stir the stuff until it is all the same light cocoa powder color. Lift the powder from the bottom of the bowl as you stir.

Store it in an airtight glass or food grade plastic container. When I am traveling, it’s usually in a Ziploc gallon freezer zipper bag, inside another plastic bag. It’s handy to have a low carb breakfast with me on the road.

My actual breakfast starts with a serving of fresh fruit, then the smoothie powder mixed with enough pure water to give it the texture and look of chocolate pudding. Sometimes I mix it with yogurt (I like vegan yogurt, of course) so that I get the health benefits of the lactobacillis. The baroque versions include a dash of vanilla extract, and unsweetened vegan milk instead of yogurt or water. You can blend it in a blender, but it mixes up easily with just a bowl and spoon (with which you’ll eat it, anyway, saving you the hassle of washing a blender afterwards.)