Having acquired a holiday Smoothie blender, I have started to use it. It’s a convenient way to get lots of fruits, maybe a few seeds or vegetables and use protein powder. There are lots of smoothie threads since they became popular two decades ago, not many recent ones.
My questions:
You don’t see a lot of places offering alcohol mixed with frozen fruit, milk and protein. But it seems natural enough to add run or vodka. Do you ever add alcohol? Do you know places that do this commercially?
A lot of people suggest additions which seem odd. Do you add anything untraditional to your smoothies? Why?
What is your single favourite recipe?
I have seen it claimed adding kale, spinach, etc. is a convenient way to get greens, that adding pineapple reduces the greeny taste. Seems to me that unless not adding much, vegetables might just ruin a tasty smoothie. Agree? Why not?
What is the worst smoothie ingredient?
How many days is a mix of milk and assorted produce good in the fridge? Do smoothies lend themselves well to batch cooking or advance preparation? How do you do this?
Frozen fruit mixtures seem pretty reasonably priced and maybe more convenient than fresh fruit. Are there fruits where, in your opinion, frozen and fresh are not smoothie equivalent?
Are there interesting fruits or additions that are hard to find or buy? (South Asian grocery stores here often have more unusual choices, for example.)
One at a time in my opinion.
Yes, add kale, cukes, spinach, celery(young).
Chia seeds if you must. They don’t seem to add much. Strawberries, frozen peaches, or mixed berries. I like pineapple juice. But pineapples themselves are hard blenders.
Any yogurt.
I’ve been known to slip some alcohol into a fruit smoothie from time to time. What’s the difference between that and a frozen daquiri or margarita, really? I’ve enjoyed rum with tropical fruit and of course vodka goes with everything. The one thing to be aware of is that the alcohol loosens up the ice a bit, so you’ll want to be sure enough of your ingredients are frozen instead of liquid.
As for fresh vs. frozen fruit, I don’t think it makes much difference. I usually start with frozen bananas, since they help give it a less slushy texture, and go from there.
My gf drinks many smoothies, often for her lunch. She skips breakfast so it’s a big smoothie. Frozen bananas are almost always a part. Frozen blueberries until the harvest is gone. Chia seeds. Yogurt. Oat or coconut or almond milk. Puréed pumpkin is a new addition. Peanut butter. A raw egg or pasteurized egg white if you’re squeamish really adds texture. Lately a teaspoon psyllium has become a regular addition.
If you have a smoothie craving in southern Florida on the way to the Everglades or the Keys, Robert Is Here is the place to go. Timing is key though–show up when it’s busy and you’re in for a long wait.
I’m looking for a new breakfast smoothie recipe that’s not too sweet. My first rule is, no bananas. I don’t like bananas in smoothies. The texture is weird, and the banana flavor covers up all of the other flavors. Is there a good substitute for recipes with banana?
[quote=“Dr_Paprika, post:1, topic:996093”]Do you ever add alcohol?
Do you know places that do this commercially?
[/quote]
That would require a liquor license, which is 1a.) an expensive business cost, and 2b.) unlikely to blend (HA!) with the expected customers of your typical “healthy” smoothie place.
ETA: wow, messed up that quote tag. Tried but cannot fix.
I try to use up whatever I have on hand, and stumbled on an interesting combo that I really enjoy. Greek yogurt, a splash of milk, a scoop of protein powder, a banana, some baker’s cocoa powder, and a few Morello cherries.
I like adding green tea. Not crazy about drinking that in traditional form, preferring other teas. Experimenting with adding various nuts. Not sure seeds would blend to the texture I want?
I wouldn’t expect a place to do it that didn’t already have a liquor license. There is a real opportunity here, though not a business mainly relying on volume since protein smoothies are filling.
A quick Interwebz perusal suggests some fruits are much sweeter than others, with bananas being relatively high in sugar. From a medical perspective, I don’t think most people without diabetes or liver disease should worry too much about moderate whole fruit consumption, without a specific reason to do so. But I can see the texture being affected.
But less sweet alternatives include various berries, avocado, cherries, apples, nuts, seeds, vegetables. One popular nutrition site claims:
Most places that serve what I would call an alcohol infused smoothie just call it a frozen mixed drink (a la @InternetLegend) or a alcoholic milkshake. Which is fine and fair. So do I, as it’s absolutely a matter of semantics for most ingredients, or at worst, a matter of proportions!
Odd is in the mind of the beholder. I add a lot of things to up the nutrition or suit my tastes. Garlic might be weird, but works great if you’re making a Bloody Mary as a smoothy!
“Adult Bananas Foster Milkshake” - vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt, whole milk, vanilla extract, shot of the darkest, richest rum you can find (for me, Cruzan Black Strap), 2-3 bananas, sauteed in a skillet with a smidge of butter until well caramelized (a touch of extra rum and dark brown sugar if you have time) and then frozen. During new years I made a big batch of the banana portion and made them as I felt needed. Which brings me to my second favorite. Make eggnog. Freeze eggnog into eggnog icecream (for easiest results, do NOT add booze to this nog). Blend nog ice cream with a bit of whole milk to soften to smoothie texture, add booze as desired.
Depends on the smoothie, if a more savory option (like the Bloody Mary option, or if you’re making a frozen multi-veggie V8) they work great! I made a spicy V8 blend based on this option, although I added roasted anaheim and jalapeno peppers.
Celery. Even beaten to heck, I often get a lingering ‘thread’ from the fibers. Hate it. Yes, very careful chopping before blending can prevent issues, but I don’t like celery, and if I want more fiber, I’ll just add fiber powder.
I would worry more about funky flavors from the fridge affecting my dairy based smoothies more than spoilage, but that depends upon keeping your blender scrupulously clean… which can be hard, unless you’re all but sterilizing it. Never more than 72 hours for me, and normally I make smaller batches, so 24-48 hours is my honest expectation.
Where I’m at, frozen fruit has been strangely expensive recently. So I’ve done a lot of canned fruit instead, in juice, not syrup. And that goes double for tomato based options, as I don’t see a lot of frozen for those. Fresh tomatoes are best when from my MiL garden, but that’s seasonal.
My wife experimented with jackfruit, but that’s the only specialty we had to go looking for as it were. Asian markets are also a -great- source to buy coconut milk or cream without paying a premium, but since Costco now carries it at a good price (if large quantities) we don’t make the Asian market a frequent stop.
Supplemental hack - if you’re going for dairy-based smoothies or shakes, a hack is to keep cans of condensed milk in the house (sweetened or otherwise). It’s shelf stable, rich, and an easy addition if you don’t have a lot of milk or cream available. Frozen fruits plus a can of condensed milk can create a smoothie at any time and place without worrying if you have fresh milk or yogurt in the house!
Fresh tomatoes are best when from my MiL garden, but that’s seasonal.