Recipe: Ten Tips for Super Smoothies (blender)

TEN TIPS FOR SUPER SMOOTHIES
Excerpt from: Super Smoothies by Mary Corpening Barber, Sara Corpening Whiteford and Jan Newberry

1. The very best smoothies are made from the highest-quality fruit. For the most flavorful smoothies, always use perfectly ripe fruit in the prime of its season. Also, use organic fruit whenever possible,

2. A smoothie is only as good as the sum of its parts. Use all natural ingredients, if possible. Avoid artificial ingredients and sweeteners such as aspartame (which is often inconspicuously labeled) and NutraSweet, which can leave an unpleasant aftertaste.

3. Use fresh frozen fruits within two weeks. Their flavor fades the longer they stay in the freezer. If your frozen fruit is freezer-burned, rinse it with cold water to avoid an unpleasant aftertaste. Also, scrape any freezer burn from sorbets or frozen yogurts before adding to smoothies.

4. Experiment with flavored ice cubes. This is a great way to create a cool and thick smoothie, full of concentrated flavor. To make, simply pour the juice, tea, or nectar of your preference into an ice cube tray and freeze.

5. For the best consistency, use very small ice cubes or crushed ice. Though blender manufacturers advertise that their machines can pulverize ice cubes, no matter what their size, this is not always the case. For best results, always crush ice before putting it into a blender. Put ice cubes in a strong self sealing plastic bag, remove excess air, and place the bag on a firm surface such as a counter. Smash the cubes with a rolling pin or a heavy metal pan until crushed.

6. For a thick, dense smoothie, add an extra handful of frozen fruit, crushed ice, or frozen yogurt or sorbet. If you prefer a thinner, lighter consistency, simply add more liquid. At different times during the day, we prefer different textures and temperatures. Use recipes as guidelines and adjust them to suit your own taste.

7. It's our opinion that the very best-tasting smoothies are additive free. We find that nutritional supplements compete with the pure fresh taste and smooth texture of a smoothie. If you are adamant about using additives, try adding them to a small portion of the smoothie so you can enjoy the remainder in its pure, delicious state.

8. If your smoothie is not sweet enough, due to the sugar content of the fruit, add a bit of honey, maple syrup, barley malt, brown rice syrup, stevia (a sweet-tasting plant extract), or another natural sweetener. Half of a very ripe banana is another way to make a smoothie sweeter.

9. We prefer low-fat dairy products in our smoothies. They help us keep calories and fat at a minimum and still taste great. But nonfat dairy products may be substituted in any of the recipes in this book.

10. No smoothie is ever better than in the first few minutes after it's made. For the best possible flavor and texture, drink them right away. If you must make them ahead, you'll notice that some smoothies begin to separate after 20 minutes. If that happens, simply stir it or put the smoothie back into the blender for a minute to bring it back to its original consistency.