My sister told me yesterday that when she saw a picture of this smoothie bowl on Instagram, it made her feel good. “I feel like it cleaned my insides out,” were her exact words, which I guess is a high compliment. Not many pictures of food do that to a person.

I don’t know why symmetrical smoothie bowls are cathartic, but they are. There’s probably a study somewhere that speaks to symmetry and why it relaxes a person and “cleans them out” inside. All I know is, when I make a mini Japanese garden in my smoothie bowl, and look at it afterward, it soothes me. Something about the pattern and clean lines takes away my anxiety. It’s very zen.

What wasn’t zen was forgetting to set my alarm last night and oversleeping this morning. But it’s all good, because I learned from this experience that I can shower and get ready in less than 15 minutes, and still have time to make a smoothie bowl.

Here’s a song that I listened to in the car on the way to work this morning. It’s good for long commutes and times when you need to sing. Morning car karaoke is one of my favorite times of the day.

And here’s a series that I just started watching. I’ve only seen one episode but I already love it. It’s about documentary filmmakers who travel the world and interview subjects about food and farming. In the episode I just watched, a family starts a restaurant in a centuries-old mansion in Ireland. I love their accents and their attitude. The husband had a huge smile on his face, even when it was less than 24 hours until opening and he was trying to find people to help him move furniture.

Another Symmetrical Smoothie Bowl (from me, to you)

Ingredients

1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup strawberries, stems and leaves removed
1 frozen banana
1/2 kiwi
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 cup almond milk
sliced kiwi, chia seeds, and hemp hearts for topping

Directions

Combine the blueberries, strawberries, banana, kiwi, Greek yogurt, and almond milk on a blender on high until smooth. Pour into a bowl and top with the sliced kiwi, chia seeds, and hemp hearts. A trick to getting the pattern neat is to roll the chia seeds off your fingertips, as close to the smoothie as you can without actually touching it. Enjoy!