Whether you’re a serious healthie, foodie or just love a good taste sensation, there’s never a bad time for a delicious smoothie. We’ve found 10 amazing hacks that’ll help to make sure your blended beverage tips the gastronomic food charts:
Think frozen
Begin with a frozen starchy base. You need something thick,like frozen bananas, but frozen avocados, or a frozen coconut-milk base will work, too. A good base is essential to make the smoothie tasty, but it also acts as the canvas for the rest of your smoothie artwork. Berries, avo,or pumpkin (Yes, pumpkin!) are also good options since they contain bright colours.
Use the magic ratio
Once you’ve procured your frozen fruit and put it into a high-performance, add a little water into the frozen fruit to turn it into a purée. Aim for a one-to-three ratio of water to solids. If your solids or frozen fruit are up to the three-cup line, you just want a cup of water.
Don’t add ice
No ice ice, baby. Do not add ice to your base. Ice will melt in your drink and make your toppings more likely to sink. Buoyant toppings are the key to a successful smoothie.
Don’t let it brown
Some people want to jazz up their smoothie base and expand beyond one ingredient family. That’s fine, as long as you combine similar colours (otherwise the whole thing will turn brown). If you want your smoothie to look green, stick with greens. If you want berries, stick with berries. Anything goes, really, as long as you steer clear of bananas and citrus
Learn the three C’s
There are three C’s to consider when selecting smoothie toppings- composition, crunch, and colour. Get inspired! Smoothies are bold- so play around. Try out different seasonal fruits, nuts, and seeds.
Don’t tank your smoothie
When adding fruit to your smoothie, cut it into bite-size pieces rather than chunks. It’ll be much easier to eat and enjoy that way. Also be careful not to add too much room-temperature fruit- it’ll sink like the Titanic.
Drizzle
The “cherry on top” of a great smoothie is a drizzle of nut butter. We cannot exaggerate this healthy hack enough! But consistency is key. Some nut butters are too oily, while some are too solid, so find one that’s in-between for the perfect drizzle effect.
Let it (over)flow
The trick to an abundant-looking smoothie is to let the contents spill over like the horn of plenty. Fill up the smoothie to an inch from the top, and you’ll be good to go!
Use a reliable, good blender
A good blender will make all the difference to your experience from beginning to end- From convenience, time taste as well as clean-up. There are loads of blenders on the market- Look out for stainless steel blades, a tight-fitting but easy to remove lid, a good size motor, cord storage and non-slip feet.
