Smoothies are Fun !
| Published: 4th September 2007 22:14 |
Cocktails are so yesterday: nowadays it's all about smoothies!
Part fruit drink, part purée, smoothies have taken off big-time and you can now take 'em away from cafés, restaurants and juice bars or stock 'em in from your local supermarket. They're refreshing, energising, satisfying and good for you.
Make the most of the end of summer and get into the latest health trend! See why smoothies are good for you, get involved with our experts' recipes, including lunchbox-friendly ones, and see what flavours you haven't discovered yet!
Smoothies are fruit-based solid or liquid drinks whizzed up in a blender and enjoyed chilled or frozen. You can add all sorts of different ingredients to the basic fruit mix (crushed ice, milk, yoghurt, honey, herbs and more).
They're thicker than juice, more liquid than purée and less iced than sorbet, but believe it or not, smoothies have no real pre-defined conistency and there are loads of different mixtures you can come up with. It all depends on how you make them and what you put in them.
When they contain nothing but fresh fruit and veg and you drink them straight away, there's nothing fresher than a smoothie. They're bursting with vitamins (especially A and C), minerals and trace elements that are essential for your health and energy levels. Added to that, if you use whole fruit in your smoothies they'll also provide you with fibre.
"Smoothies are a great way to get all the fruit and vegetables you need," our nutritionist says. One glass as part of a varied, balanced diet can be counted as one of your 5-a-day - some smoothies even count as two!
If you add milk or yoghurt to your smoothie, you're also getting a bit of dairy in there, with all the benefits it brings such as calcium, quality protein, etc. Smoothies are also natural and free of additives and preservatives, which makes them definite health food.
When it comes to smoothies, there are no iron culinary rules: the combinations are endless and you can put whatever you like and need in them.
"If you're very active and need energy, go for recipes that contain substantial fruit such as bananas, or sugary fruit such as cherries or grapes," our nutritionist advises. "If you're watching your figure, you're better off with diuretic, low-sugar fruit such as peaches, strawberries or pineapple."
Whatever smoothie does it for you, go for no added sugar because if a smoothie is sweetened with honey, syrup or sugar it will be much more calorific. If you're after a more consistent snack, go for somthing fruit-based and rich in sugar or starch, or dairy-based (or equivalent): yoghurt, milk, soya, almonds, rice, etc etc.
Like soups, fruit and juice, smoothies are a 'type' of food. Dependig on the fruit you use and the nutritional benefits, one smoothie contains an average of 100-200 calories, so don't get carried away: supping them all day long is a no-no if you don't want to tip the scales the wrong way!
"Although they're light and good for you, smoothies do contain a certain amount of sugar, which means calories," says our expert. "Have them as part of a meal, as a dessert for example, or as a snack, instead of a piece of fruit or your usual nibbles. Diet-wise, they're much healthier than sorbet, ice cream or milkshake, and make a good alternative because they're just as satifying and refreshing."
Handy advice
Equipment
You'll need a good solid blender for making smoothies so you can blend any frozen ingredients, and a juicer if you want to make your own juice.
Ingredients
Obviously you need fruit and veg, but you also might need milk (ordinary or soya), almonds, rice and sugar (preferably unrefined sugar such as honey, maple or rice syrup). Make your smoothie healthier by adding herbs or natural supplements such as yeast, spirulina, guarana or ginseng. And for freshness, use at least one or two fresh or frozen ingredients.
Quantities
Put all your ingredients into a large measuring bowl and use liquid measures (even for your solid ingredients). For example, if you need 300ml orange juice and 200ml of banana, pour in 300ml of orange juice and add the banana until you get up to 500ml.
For more info on equipment and recipes, see www.lovesmoothies.com/
Bulgaria
Ingredients: 40ml tomato juice, 40ml carrot juice, 1 stick of celery, 50g fresh cucumber, 1 pinch celery salt, 1 tsp Tabasco, 1 sprig fresh mint, 2 tbsp natural yoghurt.
Preparation: Chop the cucumber and celery up roughly. Wash and chop the mint. Put all the ingredients in your blender and whizz on full power. Serve in a cocktail glass.
Delifruit
Ingredients: 40ml skimmed milk, 80ml pressed apple juice, 100g fresh strawberries, 4 prunes with the stones removed.
Preparation. Wash and de-stalk the strawberries and prunes and cut in half. Pour ingredients into your blender and whizz on full power. Serve in a cocktail glass with crushed ice.
The Cure
Ingredients: For 2 glasses: 200ml orange juice, 150ml grapefruit juice, 250ml lemon juice, 25ml lime juice, 1 banana (around 100ml), 2 or 3 mint leaves.
Preparation: Blend together. You can use frozen or fresh banana, and if you use fresh it's a good idea to serve with ice too.
Antioxidising smoothie
Ingredients: For 2 glasses: 300ml watermelon, 200ml apple juice, 1 tbsp dried cranberries, 1 tsp lemon sorbet or 1 quarter of a lime per glass.
Preparation: Blend the watermelon, apple juice and most of the cranberries. Serve with a topping of lemon sorbet or slices of lime and garnish with the remaining cranberries.
Sweetie
Ingredients: 50g strawberries, half a banana, half an apple, 1 tsp honey, 1 yoghurt, 1 or 2 ice cubes.
Preparation: Wash and de-stalk the strawberries. Peel the banana and apple, slice the banana and chop the apple into small pieces. Place everything except the ice into a blender and whizz for 30 seconds on full power. Serve in a glass with 1 or 2 ice cubes.
Pear Surprise
Ingredients: 1 pear, 50g powdered almonds, 1 yoghurt.
Preparation: Peel the pear and remove the inside. Place all the ingredients in a blender and whizz for 30 seconds on full power. Serve in a glass. If you don't like your smoothie too thick, sieve it first to remove any remaining pieces of almond.
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