A few weeks ago Julie Morris’
second book, Superfood Smoothies was
released. Similar to her first
work,
this book is elegantly put together, well-conceived, has stunning photos, and
of course, the recipes, all featuring only the healthiest ingredients, are
mouth-wateringly appetizing (and are all oil free!).
Julie has a simple argument
for writing this book and it basically goes like this: including health-boosting
smoothies into your everyday routine is an excellent (and delicious) way to
boost your energy and nutrition intake. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been a huge
fan of smoothies for several years and have come to rely on them to help me
recover after long runs and hard rides. In fact, when people ask me for one tip
on how to be a little healthier, I suggest adding a healthy, plant-based
smoothie to their daily routine. And if you’re one of those people who are
looking for an easy way to boost your nutrients without making a major change
to your diet, Julie’s book is a great starting point.
Like her previous book,
Julie’s book is more than just recipes. The first thirty pages of the book
identify some of the main ingredients like acai, camu, flax, goji, greens, maca,
maqui, and pomegranate and gives a brief but thorough review on their health
properties. In this section, Julie also lays out the principles of creating
superfood smoothies (first rule of superfood smoothies? There are no rules –but
there are guiding principles!). Her principles and base ingredients are similar
to mine. Her book also includes some lesser known ingredients, some of which were new even to me.
For instance, I was unfamiliar with Sea Buckthorn juice, which is an herb that
can help lower blood pressure while boosting immunity.
While the ingredients I’ve
listed above sound exotic and exto facto expensive, most of the smoothies include
everyday superfoods like cucumbers and kale or spinach and in total only cost
around $4 dollars per serving. Considering that any of the smoothies in this
book will most likely be the healthiest part of your day, it’s more than worth
the price. Also many of these smoothies work as an excellent meal replacement;
and $4 dollars is a pretty cheap meal no matter how you look at it! Julie has
also included a purchasing resource guide as an appendix to help first time
buyers of some of these foods find good deals. And remember, building a
“superfood” pantry doesn’t have to be done in one fell swoop, so if you don’t
have all the ingredients don’t sweat it.
Julie’s book also identifies
which smoothie recipes are good for bone strength, heart health, high in
protein, high in antioxidants, healthy skin and more. However this is a bit of
a gimmick, because in reality, each of these recipes are an excellent blend of
all of these health properties so I wouldn’t spend too much time stressing over
these details.
The recipes are divided into a
few easy sections: “Light and Fruity” section which have blends that are mostly
under 300 calories; there’s a “Cleansing and Green” chapter; a “Rich and
Creamy” section; a “Stealth” section, which “hides” the taste of various
vegetables that maybe you want to consume in your diet, but don’t want to taste,
(this section is perfect for picky kids) with smoothies like the Chocolate
Cauliflower; and finally, there’s a “Premium” section. This last section puts
an increased focus on superfoods, and hence will have a slightly higher
price tag than the $4 per serving mentioned above.
Above all, Julie stresses that
smoothies are essentially experiments and really encourages people to use her
recipes as guidelines rather than rigid orthodoxy. While that is partly what
makes the book so fun, all of her recipes are designed to not only taste
amazing, but are also stunning. You will
not find a single “gray” colored smoothie within these pages making her blends
perfect for family-get-togethers and picky eaters who may be put off by bland colors.
While Julie marks “superfoods”
with a special logo within the recipes, the truth is, all of the fruits and
vegetables within these pages are super foods in their own way, and including
them in your daily diet will certainly lead to better and longer lasting
health. Also Julie offers some suggested substitutions if you don’t have access
to the hardest to find ingredients.
(Red Velvet Cake)
I’ve had the book for about a
month now, and have made several blends but by far, my top three favorites are
the Mint
Chip
(whose recipe I already shared), the premium Chocolate Mint, and the Red Velvet
Cake. The Red Velvet Cake uses beets, and
I slammed several of these drinks (with some added beet greens) prior to my
most recent half marathon. In a book like this, it’s impossible to pick a
favorite so my suggestion is randomly turn to a page, blend, and drink up… It
can, literally improve your day!
So now the Giveaway! Navitas Naturals continues to floor me with their generoristy. Not only are they going to send one lucky winner a copy of Julies' book, they are also including a bag of Navitas Naturals Organic Cacao Nibs to help start you one your way to building a Superfood Pantry!
GIVEAWAY
Here are the rules. First, the winner needs to live in the United States (sorry international readers, no disrespect). The contest will end on June 1st at midnight. To enter, you must be a subscribed reader to BYOL. To increase your chances of winning leave a comment on this post or/and "like" "Superfood Cuisine with Julie Morris" on facebook. You will also gain a point if you "like" the new Bring Your Own Lentils facebook page.
