?ine Carlin’s Coconut, Mango and Spinach Smoothie Bowl

Smoothie bowls are all the rage right now, and with good reason. The texture is ever so slightly thicker than your usual smoothie and the toppings add an extra dimension. If you’re a total ?green smoothie? novice, this is possibly the best recipe to ease you in because, first and foremost, you can’t taste the spinach at all. Not one tiny bit. Here, you’re getting all the benefits without the aftertaste and, trust me, after one of these you’ll be zipping around like nobody’s business and feeling fit as a fiddle. Packed full of good fats, such as coconut oil and yoghurt, which aid weight loss in the long run (they are known to decrease hunger and increase energy levels), you’ll soon be hooked on their clean-eating credentials that’ll have you glowing from the inside out. So swap that straw for a spoon and dig in.

Ingredients
Serves 1-2

200g frozen mango chunks
? ripe avocado, peeled
2 heaped tbsp coconut yoghurt
1 heaped tsp coconut oil
2 stoned Medjool dates
50g spinach leaves
juice of – a lime
1 tsp spirulina/chlorella or hemp powder
100ml Plant Milk (see below)
blueberries, fresh mango slices, flaked almonds and desiccated coconut, to serve

Method

1. Place the frozen mango pieces in a food processor or blender along with the avocado, coconut yoghurt, coconut oil, dates, spinach leaves, lime juice, spirulina and plant milk of your choice.

2. Blitz until completely smooth and serve in a shallow bowl with the fresh mango, a handful of fresh blueberries and a sprinkling of flaked almonds and desiccated coconut.

Plant Milk 101
Serves 2-4 (makes about 500ml)

Ingredients

1 cup (about 110g) soaked nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts or pistachios) or oats
2 cups (about 500ml) water (preferably filtered)

Method

1. Place the soaked nuts or the oats in a blender along with the water and blend until it turns milky. If making oat milk, try not to over-blend the oats, as it will impair the texture.

2. Strain the blended mixture through a sieve or pour into a nut milk bag set over a bowl and squeeze out all the liquid until only pulp remains in the bag. Set the pulp aside to make into bliss balls later. The milk is best fresh, but will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Soaking nuts

Place your chosen nuts in a bowl, cover with filtered water and set aside for at least 6 hours or better still, overnight. Feel free to change the water halfway through. Once they are plump, drain and rinse the nuts and, depending on what you are making, place them in your chosen kitchen gadget … I normally use my blender for creams and my food processor for cheeses.

Extracted from The New Vegan by ?ine Carlin (Kyle Books, approx €21), out now. Photographs by Nassima Rothacker.

For more of ?ine Carlin’s recipes, pick up the February issue of IMAGE Magazine, out now.