Pitaya, pitaya. Where have you been all of my life? If 2015 was the year of my açai bowl love affair forming, 2016 will be the year I make pitaya bowls until my eyes see hot pink everything everywhere.
When I came across this magical pink bowl all over my Instagram feed, I had to find out what the hype was about. Thanks to my new friends at Pitaya Plus, I received a big brown box on my door step packed with frozen pitaya packets. Now you’re probably wondering what pitaya is and I don’t blame you. Before I looked into it, I had no idea what made these smoothie bowls so fluorescent and candy-like.
Pitaya originated from Central America and is most commonly known as dragon fruit. That bright pink little guy filled with all of the black seeds that you never see much of. Well folks, now it is ALL. OVER THE PLACE. Especially on social media, because well… duh.
Pitaya, however, comes in a frozen pack, unsweetened (just packed with natural sugar), filled with natural fiber (12% of the daily recommended intake) and let’s not forget it is GORGEOUS.
So here we are… my first pitaya bowl. Made with frozen banana, strawberries and topped with all of my favorite toppings and pretty much every single thing in my kitchen that can qualify AS a topping.
Coconut butter. Check. Hemp seeds. Check.
Love Grown Foods granola with added coconut flakes. Double check.
And then of course, the mandatory extra added fruit to make the bowl sparkle just a little bit more. Check.
- 2 frozen pitaya packs
- 1 frozen banana
- ½ cup frozen strawberries
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
- ⅓ cup frozen greens (spinach and kale)
- For topping:
- Banana slices
- Raspberries
- ¼ cup favorite granola (I use Love Grown Foods or Purely Elizabeth)
- 1 tbsp hemp seeds
- 1 tbsp coconut butter
- Combine your frozen fruit (including pitaya packets) with milk and greens into a high-speed blender. Begin your blender on slow and then gradually turn it to a higher speed.
- Spoon into a bowl and set into freezer for 10-15 minutes to harden up a bit just in case it is liquidy at all.
- Take out of the freezer, top with your selected toppings and face plant! 🙂
While I’m glad I tried this magical fruity frozen concoction, I will say my heart is still holding onto açai bowls. I’ve always thought dragon fruit has a somewhat slight and mild taste compared to açai but I will also admit that the flavor will be 100% affected by what fruits you add in!
Pitaya Plus sent me a large sheet with different recipes on it ranging from ones using orange juice as a liquid add-in to almond milk and smoothies with frozen mango or banana. I based my recipe off of one of the chosen calling for two pitaya packs instead of one. Since the pitaya packs are a bit smaller than the açai ones I’m used to, I went with it. I ended up splitting my bowl into 2 and having the rest for a snack later in the day. *The dreamiest snack ever*
I think I’ll make açai and pitaya bowls as long as I’ve got my handy dandy Vitamix with me. They’re such a nice refreshing treat and it makes me feel like I’m sitting in a smoothie shack on a tropical island when in reality, I’m in my living room dreading the 5º weather outside. I think it’s kinda funny that even when it’s freezing outside myself and many of the foodie friends I’ve made LOVE our smoothies and smoothie bowls. Some days I’ll even be freezing outside walking home ready to make one of these!
Weird cravings for sure but delicious ones none the less!
Happy Thursday, my little garbanzo beans. Enjoy 🙂
This post was not sponsored, however I was sent free frozen Pitaya Plus packets free of charge. All opinions and thoughts are my own. Thank you for reading Chickpea in the City!
rachel @ athletic avocado says
I can’t get over how beautiful and delicious this looks! Adding love grown foods granola to it is like icing on the cake 🙂
GiselleR @ Diary of an ExSloth says
I have yet to try pitaya packs because I can’t find them anywhere in Canada. The colour is so awesome though so fingers crossed I find some somewhere!