Behold, the smoothie. A meal in a glass.
And not just any meal. A meal anyone can make, no matter how inept in
the kitchen or bound by time constraints. And done right, smoothies are
packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein, healthy fats and
so much more. Not only can smoothies be nutritious, they’re also super
delicious. That combination doesn’t come round too often.
Use it as a meal replacement
(e.g. breakfast), a post-workout drink, a supplement, snack or a
healthy dessert. Use smoothies as a way to get your daily dose of fruit
and veg, to lose weight, build muscle, or gain weight. Adapt smoothies
anyway you can to suit your needs. The only thing holding you back is
your imagination. There’s so much more to smoothies than fruit, yogurt
and ice. Here’s your go-to guide on how to make a smoothie – awesome!
Smoothie Step 1: Add Fruits and/or Vegetables
Use fresh or frozen fruits to make your
smoothie. Out of season, frozen fruits are a good choice, as they’re
picked at the peak of ripeness and immediately frozen, sealing in the
vitamins and minerals for maximum nutrition and maintaining textural
integrity. Of course frozen fruits are incredibly convenient, but they
also score high in terms of taste. Because you need less ice, you can
achieve a more intense, purer flavor and yield a creamier smoothie.
Why not freeze your own fruit,
especially if you prefer organic? Just buy fruit in bulk when in season
(esp. when on sale), peel, cut, place in freezer bags and freeze.
Fruits to add to your smoothie include:
- Apples
- Apricot
- Avocado
- Banana
- Berries (e.g. strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, cherries)
- Grapefruit
- Grape
- Guava
- Kiwi
- Mango
- Melon (e.g. watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew)
- Nectarines
- Oranges
- Papaya
- Peach
- Pears
- Pineapple
- Plums
- Pomegranate
- Strawberry
Smoothies are a great opportunity to get
some greens into your diet without actually tasting them. The fruit in
smoothies mask most of the flavor of the vegetables, such that it still
tastes like a fruit smoothie (though slightly different color). Spinach
is one of the most popular greens added to smoothies because it has a mild flavor (its taste is masked by fruit) and because it is easy to blend. Other mild greens
include romaine lettuce and bok choy. Adding a few greens will
massively boost the nutritional content of your smoothie. As you
experiment with ingredients and recipes, try some of the greens listed
below:
- Spinach
- Kale
- Swiss chard
- Bok Choy
- Collard greens
- Spring greens
- Beet greens
- Dandelion greens
- Mustard greens
- Arugula
- Lettuce
- Romaine lettuce
SMOOTHIE STEP 2: ADD LIQUID
Smoothies are all about balance. Balance
of flavor, balance of texture. Consistency of your smoothie is as
important as taste. To get the right consistency add between 1 and 2
cups of liquid for every 3 cups of fruit. Exactly how much you need
depends on the type of fruit you’re using. Bananas and mangos for
example are thicker fruit, which means you’ll want to add more liquid.
Watermelon, on the other hand, produces a lot of juice, so you’ll need
to add less. In any case, if it’s too thick you can always add more
liquid, and if you added too much liquid just add more ingredients that
thicken your smoothie (see next step).
Nothing is irreversible when making a
smoothie, you can always add a little more of this or a little more of
that to get it just how you want. That’s what the infographic (below) is
all about. A cheat sheet! In fact, experimentation is the best way to
find out how you like your smoothie!
Liquids to add to your smoothie include:
Milk:
- Cows milk
- Almond milk
- Hazelnut milk
- Soy milk
- Rice milk
- Oat milk
- Hemp milk
- Coconut milk/ water
Fruit juice (fresh squeezed/ pressed or store bought):
- Orange juice
- Apple juice
- Pear juice
- Grape juice
- Pomegranate juice
Various:
- Water
- Iced coffee
- Iced green/ black tea
SMOOTHIE STEP 3: THICKEN UP
This step will give your smoothie body,
texture and creaminess, and balance out any acidic taste from fruits
such as oranges and berries. But it’s also an opportunity to boost the
nutritional content of your smoothie. Thickening your smoothie is
especially important if you’re working with watery fruit such as
watermelon or pineapple, or haven’t used thick, balancing fruits such as
avocado and banana.
Nut & seed butters (preferably natural & unsweetened):
Nut and seed butters are rich in protein, fiber, and essential fatty acids.
- Almond butter
- Cashew butter
- Hazelnut butter
- Macadamia nut butter
- Peanut butter
- Pecan butter
- Pistachio butter
- Walnut butter
- Pumpkin seed butter
- Sesame seed butter (tahini)
- Soybean butter
- Sunflower seed butter
Dairy:
- Yogurt
- Cottage cheese
- Kefir
- Frozen yogurt
- Ice cream (best used for dessert smoothie, treat or weight gain smoothie)
Various:
- Ice
- Coconut meat
- Chia seeds
- Psyllium seed husks (drink smoothie quickly or psyllium will swell making it difficult to drink)
- Oats
- Beans (tip: use white beans or chickpeas in fruit, vanilla or other
light-colored smoothies and black beans in chocolate or dark smoothies)
If you don’t want to thicken your
smoothie with any of the above ingredients or are only adding ice, work
with fruits such as avocados, bananas and mangoes, that are naturally
thicker or frozen fruits to achieve a thick, rich and creamy smoothie.
SMOOTHIE STEP 4: FLAVOR IT
This is one of my favorite steps. It’s where you take really good smoothie and make it special.
Sweeteners
Let’s start with sweeteners. Ideally, most of the smoothies sweetness
should come from fruit. If you’re using sweet and ripe fruits such as
banana and mango, you should need little sweetener. If you do need to
sweeten your smoothie, you can use (brown) sugar, but there are many
ways you can sweeten your smoothie and add nutritional value or at least
limit calories.
- Honey
- Stevia
- Xylitol
- Maple syrup
- Agave nectar
- Dates
- Figs
Salt
Just as any meal, a dash of salt can enhance the taste of your
smoothie. To add extra nutritional value, use high quality sea salt such
as Celtic sea salt, instead of table salt.
Spices/ Herbs
Adding spices will take your smoothie to the next level, both in flavor and nutritionally.
- Mint
- Basil
- Lemongrass
- Lavender
- Cilantro/coriander (green smoothies)
- Parsley (green smoothies)
- Cinnamon (adds a layer of sweetness, without adding calories)
- Vanilla (extract)
- Almond extract
- Nutmeg
- Allspice
As well as the following (a little will go a long way):
- Ginger
- Clove
- Cardamom
- Cayenne pepper
SMOOTHIE STEP 5: SUPERFOODS
This is where you take your smoothie to
the next level in terms of nutrition. There are a plethora of superfoods
you can add to smoothies to give it a massive nutritional boost.
Adding a tablespoon of healthy oil (e.g.
fish oil and coconut oil) is an easy to way to turn a smoothie into
more of a meal. Adding healthy fats help you absorb some of the
nutrients, will make the smoothie more satisfying and help you feel
fuller for longer. Instead of a tablespoon of oil, you can add some
avocado, it’s full of healthy fat and will make your smoothie creamy.
Another awesome addition to your
smoothie is protein. Like fats, protein transforms your smoothie from a
snack into a meal. Protein takes longer to digest, stabilizes blood
sugar, helpes you feel fuller and keeps hunger at bay. Protein is
important if you’re using smoothies as a meal replacement or as a
post-exercise snack. You can add protein powder (e.g. whey protein, hemp
protein), which come in all sorts of flavors, or use foods such as
cottage cheese, yogurt or milk (see step 3 above) as your protein
source.
As with the previous steps, the
following is just a list of what you can add, it’s not meant to be
overwhelming, but just give you an idea of the possibilities and
encourage you to experiment a little.
- Protein powder
- Coconut oil/ butter
- Flaxseed oil
- Fish oil
- Fresh sprouts
- Green powders
- Cacao powder
- Maca powder
- Aloe vera
- Acai powder
- Goji berries
- Spirulina powder
- Chlorella powder
- Wheatgrass powder
- Multivitamin powder
- Wheat germ
- Probiotic powder
- Ground flax seeds
- Hemp seeds
- Bee pollen
SMOOTHIE STEP 6: BLEND!
Added all the ingredients? It’s time to blend! Start out on a low
setting and work your way up to the top speed. It’ll take about 30 to 60
seconds – depending on ingredients – to blend. Pour, drink and enjoy!
Did I miss your favorite ingredient or do you have a favorite smoothie recipe? Leave a comment and let me know!
Check out the
How to make a smoothie infographic!
