In My Fridge: What Smoothie Guru Alison Wu Stocks Daily

It’s not that we expected Alison to reveal a fridge full of rainbow-layered smoothies, but…no, we did expect that.

Blogger Alison Wu is one of the most impressive wellness foodies on Instagram, popularizing the now ubiquitous layered smoothie (see this story).

We asked the mostly vegan, gluten-free wellness blogger to share her life in the kitchen with us. Rifle through her Coconut Cult and Pressed Juicery filled fridge with us in one of our fave series on the site…

Food philosophy in one sentence:

Food is medicine – for our bodies, yes, but also for our minds and spirits.

Always in my fridge:

Matcha (yes, matcha is best kept in the fridge to preserve flavor after opening), fresh herbs, lacinato kale, homemade dukkah, hot sauce, chocolate.

7 recipe staples always on hand:

Greens, lemons, black pepper, garlic, avocado oil for cooking, olive oil for dressings, garbanzo beans.

Must-have munchies:

My Walnut-Cardamom Bliss Balls.

Fave condiments:

Stone-ground and Dijon mustard. Always and forever.

Ingredient that makes everything taste better:

Salt.

Must-have pantry staples:

Coconut butter, dates, all the adaptogens, dried apricots, banza, apple cider vinegar, quinoa, cinnamon, coconut oil, high-quality olive oil, ghee and toasted sesame oil.

Go-to proteins:

Roasted pasture-raised chicken, fresh seafood, nuts and seeds, collagen peptides and garbanzo beans.

Best bargain:

Bringing your own glass jars to buy from the bulk bins. Saves money and the environment.

Best label reading tip:

Look out for added sugar (yes, honey counts too!). Also, check sodium content. If there is a low-sodium option, get that. As a general rule of thumb, skip anything with more than ten ingredients.

Fave veggie + what you make with it:

Literally not possible for me to pick a favorite veggie. They are all so different and amazing. I can’t pick favorites here!

Craziest thing I buy:

I have a whole section of my pantry devoted to different types of seaweed.

Sweets and other indulgences:

ZenBunni Gheenache. Also, Freaky Health Chocolate bars and my Pumpkin Pie Dream Bars.

Dairy or non-dairy faves:

Coconut everything always!

Skip labels that read:

I honestly try to limit the amount of things I buy that have labels at all. I tend toward filling up my shopping cart with whole foods – vegetables, fruits, proteins.

Favorite splurge:

$16 chunky almond, cashew, coconut butter from Groundup PDX. I go through a jar a week. I’m obsessed.

For last-minute entertaining:

Snack board with homemade dips and vegan cheeses. Heavy on the veggies. Like this one.

Favorite places to shop:

Portland Farmers Market. Providore PDX. New Seasons. When I’m traveling abroad, I love visiting local markets. I was just in Oaxaca, Mexico and visited Tlacolula Market – one of the best I’ve ever been to!