Smoothie – just the sound of this word sounds like a creamy, delicious feel-good pleasure. Smoothies are cold mixed drinks made from various fresh fruits and vegetables that can be prepared in no time and contain many healthy ingredients. In contrast to fruit juices, the whole fruit is processed in a smoothie.
As a result, there are plenty of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and super healthy secondary plant substances in the creamy drinks.
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The smoothie: five servings of fruit and vegetables in a glass
Nutritionists recommend consuming five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. In everyday life, the requirement of healthy eating is not always so easy to implement. With fresh smoothies, this is now child’s play: For an extra portion of health, this can be achieved with uncomplicated recipes with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Whether with kale and spinach, with bananas or fresh berries – there are no limits to the imagination when preparing a smoothie. What counts is your taste preferences.
This is how the perfect smoothie succeeds
Seven steps to the perfect smoothie:
1. Fresh ingredients
When it comes to a smoothie, it’s all about freshness! Use fully ripe fruit and crunchy fresh vegetables for the homemade power drink. In this way you ensure that your ingredients are of the optimal quality with many valuable nutrients and the best taste. In order to keep the content of harmful substances in your food as low as possible, you should also buy natural fruit and vegetables in organic quality.
2. Less is more in a smoothie!
Don’t choose too many ingredients. You don’t want uniformity, do you? Two to three different fruits and vegetables are sufficient. The aromas of the individual ingredients can be tasted all the better in the smoothie.
3. Ice, ice, ice!
The smoothie tastes particularly refreshing with a little ice (ice cubes or frozen fruit). However, it should not be drunk too cold, as the individual taste nuances cannot fully develop.
4. Green & fruity
The special thing about green smoothies: their high proportion of vegetable green. In addition to the healthy vital substances, the green smoothies contain lots of chlorophyll – liquid sunlight, so to speak. Contrary to popular belief, green smoothies aren’t just made of green vegetables. They are especially tasty if you use fruit in the preparation. Choose vegetables and fruit in roughly equal proportions and feel the taste of green smoothies, which initially takes a bit of getting used to. Classic green smoothies contain three parts of green vegetables, two parts of liquid, and one part of sweet fruit.
In addition to spinach and lamb’s lettuce, cabbage, lettuce and chard are also suitable for the mixture for the vegetable smoothies. But rocket, cucumber, and kale are also welcome to go into the blender.
5. Milk
Dilute Always add a little water, especially to green smoothies. This gives the drink a creamy consistency and makes the blender’s job easier. In addition to pure water, there are other liquid alternatives to dilute your smoothie. We would like to introduce some of them to you here:
Thanks to its nutty taste, almond milk tastes particularly good in sweet smoothies.
Oat milk is suitable as a light alternative to cow’s milk.
Coconut water is valued as a substitute for drinking water in the countries where it is grown. Its isotonic property as a thirst quencher comes into its own, particularly in green smoothies.
6. Do not be dazzled!
Yes, it’s true, smoothies contain a lot of vitamins, fiber, and phytochemicals – that is what fresh fruits and vegetables that have not been pureed do, but so do. The valuable minerals, vitamins and antioxidants are already in the whole fruit before it is pureed. The only exception: in green smoothies, the cell structures of the green parts of the plant are broken up by the mixing process and only then available to humans.
7. How long can smoothies keep?
Freshly mixed, the smoothies naturally contain the highest proportion of healthy plant substances and vitamins and should therefore be consumed quickly. The shelf life of the smoothies depends on three factors: which ingredients you have chosen, how old the fruit and vegetables used were, and how you store the finished smoothie. It is best to keep the smoothies away from heat, light, and oxygen in a well-closed container. As a rule, your power drink can then be kept in the refrigerator for up to two days. Experts recommend that the freshly mixed drinks are best stored in glass containers, as plastic or metal containers can change the taste.
Simply prepare smoothies
If you don’t have time to prepare fruit and vegetables, but still don’t want to go without your beloved smoothie, we have this tip for you:
Simply prepare the ingredients for your favorite smoothie! Put the cleaned and chopped fruits and vegetables in a freezer bag and store your supplies in the freezer. If you don’t have time to prepare and still want to enjoy a fresh smoothie, simply put the frozen ingredients in the blender and fill it up with 1-2 glasses of milk or coconut water. In just a few minutes you can sip your extra portion of health.
When combining fruits and vegetables for your favorite smoothie, you can orientate yourself entirely according to your taste. Do you love apples? Then try different apple varieties in a smoothie – you will be surprised how the taste changes depending on the variety you use.
For all readers who like to rely on tried and tested recipes, we have listed our favorite mix recipes here. The specified amount is sufficient for 2 large glasses.
Smoothie classic
2 apples
1 half a cucumber
6 leaves of lettuce
Juice of a lime
Cut the apple and cucumber with the peel and mix. Add the lettuce and lime juice. Mix finely for a few minutes, adding a little more water if necessary.
Divine green smoothie
2 handfuls of kale (stripped)
1 half pineapple (without peel and hardcore)
One cm fresh ginger
1 apple (pitted, with peel)
2 sprigs of mint
200 ml water
Ice cubes
All ingredients are finely pureed together in a blender for several minutes. Finally, add the ice cubes and mix again.
Colorful pick-me-up
1 beetroot (cooked)
2 oranges (peeled, without white skin)
1 half mango
ginger to taste
All ingredients are finely pureed together in the mixer for several minutes. Depending on the consistency you want, add still water.
Also read: how to make apple cider
