How does one achieve the perfect smoothie?

What is Important When Shopping

The basis for a healthy smoothie are fresh ingredients. These should ideally be acquired shortly before preparation. It is advantageous to buy seasonal and regional vegetable varieties as well as fruits. Because imported goods often involve many unwanted substances like pesticides, preservatives, etc., which harm both health and the environment. Seasonal products from the region are excellent choices. Short transportation distances and maximum flavor positively affect smoothies. However, if possible, bio-products should be used because negative substances can also be present in domestic produce. Regional does not necessarily mean better.

Regarding the fruits used, it is crucial that they are very ripe. This has a positive effect on digestion and tastes better as well. Generally, it is advisable to mix three parts vegetables with two parts liquid and one part fruit. However, this ratio is not mandatory. It can be varied and adjusted to personal taste.

To make shopping easier, suitable smoothie ingredients have been listed:

Vegetables:

• Spinach
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Beetroot
• Taro
• Parsnips
• Tomatoes

Fruits:

• Bananas
• Date
• Fig
• Pear
• Avocado
• Berries
• Apple
• Mango
• Lemon
• Lime
• Kiwi

Extras:

• Herbs like basil, dill, mint, and chives
• Sesame seeds
• Honey
• Ash tree syrup
• Spices like pepper, chili, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom
• Nuts
• Peanut butter
• Chia seeds

The liquid does not necessarily have to be water. Almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk or tea are also possible.

Tips for Preparation

Before the smoothie can be prepared, a device for grinding the ingredients comes into focus. If the kitchen does not have an appropriate product, the trade offers some sensible solutions. The blender is one of them. It allows all ingredients to be put into a container and mixed together in seconds through the mixing function. A disadvantage of the blender is the increased space requirement.

The space-saving alternative is a stick blender. High-quality models are extremely compact and comfortable to hold. They make flexible blending, mixing, and grinding convenient. Unlike a blender, parts of fruits and vegetables can be ground more precisely. While in many stand mixers, some pieces may still remain coarse after multiple uses, the food items can be consistently blended with a stick blender. The wattage is crucial. "The more power your stick blender has, the more power is also in your magic wand, which is important if you want to use it for smoothies," as explained on stabmixer.de. One of the reasons for the need for high wattage is that it allows a creamy consistency to be achieved, unlike with less powerful devices. Additionally, powerful stick blenders can reliably grind even firmer ingredients like pieces of parsnips or apples. Products with little wattage reach their power limit here. Another advantage of the stick blender: It is often cheaper than some mixers. If nuts and other very hard food items are to be included in the smoothie, an exclusive mixer is usually the better choice.

The preparation should be fresh daily because as soon as smoothies are stored in the refrigerator for several days, nutrient loss occurs. No more than three different vegetable varieties or fruits should be processed in a drink to avoid an overload of bitter substances. The combination with a ripe fruit provides the necessary contrast.

Cooling: Warm smoothies do not taste good, so cooling is important. In addition to some ice cubes, frozen fruit can also be used.

• Fruits:
• Vegetables:

Blogger Andrea Morgenstern has arranged tips and interesting facts specifically for green smoothies in the video:

Images 1-5: tookapic/ejaugsburg/Alexas_Fotos/tookapic/fancycrave1 /pixabay.com